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Nicolas Cage Recalls Moment He “Could Have Died” While Training for ‘The Surfer’

by admin | May 4, 2025 | Articles, Hollywood Reporter Articles

Nicolas Cage didn’t have the easiest time while training for his new psychological thriller, The Surfer.

The Oscar-winning actor recently told Entertainment Weekly that he not only had limited time for surf lessons ahead of filming in Australia, but was also up against Mother Nature the entire time.

“I have surfed, but every time I’ve attempted surfing, I’ve been pounded to smithereens,” Cage recalled. “I surfed down on Sunset Beach. When I was trying to learn, my teacher gave me a shortboard. I said, ‘Look, I want a longboard.’”

However, the longer board wasn’t much help as he “just got pounded” by the ocean waves and even “got stuck in the rip tide” at one point. “They said they saw my board, they call it ‘tombstone,’ like that triangle top,” the actor explained, noting when the top of the surfboard sticks straight up out of the water.

“I’m climbing up the leash as I’m somersaulting, and I could have died,” he added. “Now I have a young kid, I don’t know if I want to do it anymore.”

Despite the challenges, though, Cage is still open to giving it another try. “The goal,” he said, “is to retire, surf, drink red wine and eat spaghetti.”

The Surfer follows a man, played by Cage, who returns to the idyllic beach of his childhood to surf with his son. However, when he’s humiliated by a group of locals, the man is drawn into a conflict that pushes him to his breaking point.

The film, directed by Lorcan Finnegan, is currently playing in theaters.

TV & Beyond on 2025-05-04 03:00:00

by admin | May 4, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles

the masterpiece that is “Freakazoid!” in 1996. Spielberg also oversaw the animated shows “Histeria!” and “Toonsylvania,” as well as primetime series like “Family Dog” and the Berkley Breathed “Bloom County” TV special “A Wish For Wings That Work.” In terms of animation, Spielberg hit his stride in the ’90s. And he’s still going; the man is now an executive producer on “Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.”

One of the most obscure pieces of ephemera in Spielberg’s animated canon, however, is a TV series called “Invasion America,” a show that aired on the WB for only 13 episodes in June and July of 1998. “Invasion America,” unlike the series listed above, was not a comedy; it was a very serious, steely, angsty sci-fi show about a teenage boy who finds out that he’s half alien. Spielberg co-created the series with Harve Bennet, the executive producer behind “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock,” and “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.”

Steven Spielberg and Harve Bennet’s Invasion America is one of their most obscure projects

DreamWorks Television Animation

The plot of “Invasion America” was quite involved. It’s explained that an alien force from the planet Tyrus came to Earth in the 1980s, hoping to engage in peaceful contact. There is, sadly, a schism within the Tyrusians. The planet’s ruler, Cale-Oosha (Lorenzo Lamas), wishes to make peace with the humans, while his uncle, the evil Dragit (Tony Jay), wants to conquer Earth. There is a fracas, a Civil War breaks out, and Cale-Oosha, along with his alien friend Rafe (Edward Albert), has to flee to Earth. He disguises himself as a human and proceeds to fall in love with a human woman named Rita (Kath Soucie). They have a child together and name him David.

David (Mikey Kelley) grows to his teen years not knowing that his father is an alien. The show’s action picks up when the Dragit return to Earth to kill off Cale once and for all, forcing David’s true identity into the spotlight. The rest of the series follows David’s adventures as he flees the Dragit’s evil alien spies and fosters his own previously unknown alien superpowers. (His abilities are enhanced and controlled by a Power Glove-like widget called an Exotar.) The tone of the show was closer to “The X-Files” than anything else, presenting a kid-friendly version of alien conspiracies.

“Invasion America” featured a few notable guest voice actors, including Kristy McNichol, Ronny Cox, and James Sikking. Leonard Nomoy also appeared as a villain named General Konrad, likely participating because he and Bennet collaborated on three “Star Trek” movies. While the show was produced in 30-minute episodes, it aired two episodes at a time, presented in 60-minute blocks. The series finale was similarly composed of a three-episode, 90-minute block.

How was Invasion America?

DreamWorks Television Animation

The series wasn’t very well-received. The review in the Los Angeles Times, written by Howard Rosenberg, argued that “Invasion America” tried to cover up its thin plot and bad writing with splashy visuals. Indeed, the show made use of then-rare-for-TV CGI models (for spacecraft exteriors), and its showrunners clearly endeavored to make everything look rich and satisfyingly mechanical. Anita Gates, writing for the New York Times, was equally impressed with the visuals –”stylish to the point of Art Deco,” she wrote – but also noted that “Invasion America” had no heart. Even in 1998, fantasy “chosen one” narratives were already immensely tired, as Gates pointed out. At least Ken Tucker’s review for Entertainment Weekly was positive. He noted, per Rotten Tomatoes, that the show was “derivative” but that its visuals made up for it.

Unusually, two versions of “Invasion America” aired in different time slots during its run. The full-length iteration ran on the WB, while a truncated, less violent rendition ran on Kids’ WB. The series ended with a chyron saying that it was “The End of Book One.” It’s full 13 episodes were presented as a single, prolonged story arc, which was unheard of in animation at the time and wasn’t really common outside of soap operas. It wouldn’t be until the mid-2000s that season-long stories became de rigueur. Sadly, there was no Book Two.

One cannot fault “Invasion America” for a lack of ambition. It was pushed very hard at the time and even had tie-in novels. It was slick and toyetic and had some of the most talented Hollywood bigwigs working on it. It seems, though, that “Invasion America” was just too familiar to catch on, and it came and went without much fanfare. Spielberg fell back to producing the “Animaniacs” spinoff “Pinky & the Brain,” while Bennet fell back into his “Time Trax” money. “Animaniacs” was eventually revived while “Tiny Toons” was rebooted. “Invasion America,” on the other hand, remains dormant.

TV & Beyond on 2025-05-04 00:00:00

by admin | May 4, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles

the discourse surrounding the “Star Wars” franchise these days, it’s easy to forget that Lucasfilm is home to other properties beyond George Lucas’ iconic galaxy far, far away. In particular, the “Indiana Jones” franchise, which Lucas co-created with Philip Kaufman before Steven Spielberg came aboard as the films’ primary director, is also under the Disney umbrella.

Much like “Star Wars,” the “Indiana Jones” property has expanded beyond its original trilogy of films with a television series, polarizing sequels, video games, and attractions at Disney Parks. However, an “Indiana Jones” series has yet to be developed for Disney+, a streaming service that has been dominated by “Star Wars” media since its launch in late 2019. Funny enough, though, it appears a streaming show about the most-beloved archaeologist in cinematic history was, in fact, in the works at one point, and used the galaxy far, far away to maintain its secrets.

Disney auditioned actors for an Indiana Jones animated series disguised as a Star Wars show

Lucasfilm

Speaking on his “Black Check” podcast, actor Griffin Newman (whose credits include “Disenchanted,” “Draft Day,” and “The Tick”) revealed that he had auditioned for a voice role in what, at first, appeared to be an untitled animated “Star Wars” project. But upon looking closer at the material provided for him, Newman read between the lines and realized the project was really an animated prequel set in the “Indiana Jones” universe. As he put it:

“I think I can say this. Years ago, I auditioned for what they had said was ‘Untitled Star Wars Project.’ When I read the sides I was like, ‘This is clearly a young Indiana Jones show,’ and it was going be animated. Then I think ‘Dial of Destiny’ was kinda getting complicated; they were like, ‘Let’s just focus on this and not do the side show.’ But there was going to be a Disney+ animated sort of like River Phoenix-esque rather than ‘Young Indiana Jones’-esque … The thing that was very funny about the ‘Indiana Jones’ cartoon thing was usually you’ll get these breakdowns and it’ll be like, ‘Untitled Lucasfilm Project,’ and you read it and you’re like ‘This is ‘Star Wars’ but they’re trying to hide that it’s ‘Star Wars.” This they sent out as ‘Untitled Star Wars Cartoon Show’ and I was like, ‘Oh cool, I’m auditioning for a ‘Star Wars’ cartoon show.’ And then I read the sides and they gave all the characters alien names but they talked about being at a university and studying adventurers and wanting to collect relics. And I was like, ‘You’re using ‘Star Wars’ as a cover for it being ‘Indiana Jones.” … But this show has just not happened.”

Based on Newman’s statement, it’s clear that Lucasfilm had plans to bring “Indiana Jones” back to television for the first time since “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” from the 1990s (which you can stream on Disney+). This time around, though, it would have been the franchise’s first foray into the medium of animation. It’s especially fascinating to learn that Lucasfilm opted to keep development on this particular series a secret by presenting it as an untitled “Star Wars” project, given that the studio looks to have many projects within that universe in development (though which ones will or won’t receive a greenlight remains a mystery).

What is the future for Indiana Jones?

Lucasfilm/Bethesda

Lucasfilm’s first theatrical release following 2019’s “Star Wars: Episode XI — The Rise of Skywalker” was none other than 2023’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” Unlike the four previous entries in the franchise, however, Spielberg did not direct the movie. Instead, “Logan” and “A Complete Unknown” filmmaker James Mangold helmed what is looking more and more like the final entry in the film property. Indeed, the movie functions as a cinematic swan song for Harrison Ford’s take on the eponymous archaeologist. Sadly, in the wake of “Dial of Destiny” earning mixed reviews and flopping at the box office, there’s no sign of any other major “Indiana Jones” projects being in active development at Lucasfilm right now.

Luckily, “Indiana Jones” fans have at least one major light at the end of the forbidden temple to look towards. The critical and commercial success of the video game “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle” suggests the franchise may have a brighter future beyond the realm of live-action cinema. Case in point: Walt Disney Imagineering is currently developing a new “Indiana Jones” theme park attraction for Disney’s Animal Kingdom, so fans will soon be able to go on another exciting E-Ticket adventure with the bullwhip-cracking hero.

Again, though, it’s unknown if Lucasfilm has plans to revisit “Indiana Jones” on the big screen anytime soon. With Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy reportedly planning to step down at the end of 2025, it appears the studio is mainly focused on the future of “Star Wars” for the moment. That’s understandable, too, given the property is preparing to unveil its first theatrical release in seven years when “The Mandalorian and Grogu” hits theaters on May 22, 2026. As for the only living man who looks good in a fedora, Harrison Ford claims he will take Indiana Jones to his grave. At the very least, though, Troy Baker is doing the character justice in video game form.

TV & Beyond on 2025-05-03 22:45:00

by admin | May 3, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles

“Dune: Part Two,” the heir to House Atreides is ascending in power and clearly on a path to unleash war across the Dune galaxy. This twist in the boy-turned-messiah’s story is sobering. It doesn’t completely align with the books, either — and it turns out that director Denis Villeneuve was well aware of that fact. In an interview with ScreenRant, Villeneuve explained the intention of having Paul “break bad” by the end of the two-part adaptation of the first book of author Frank Herbert’s iconic sci-fi series:

“When Frank Herbert wrote the book, and then when the book came out, he was disappointed by how people perceived Paul Atreides. At the time, he felt that people were talking about Paul as a hero, and for him, he was an anti-hero. He was a dark figure. The book was a warning for him about a Messianic figure.”

Villeneuve went on to clarify that Herbert used the first book’s sequel to rectify the issue. It also meant, as a director adapting the source material, he had the benefit of hindsight as well as both books to work from. Here’s what he said:

“[Frank Herbert] wrote Dune Messiah to correct [the perception of Paul as a hero] and to make sure that people understood his intention. I knew that story. I had the benefit of having read ‘Dune Messiah,’ so I wrote ‘Part 2’ having that in mind. That is why Chani’s character is slightly different in my adaptation than in the book, and it helped me to bring the initial intention of Frank Herbert to the screen.”

Chani’s changes from book to screen

Close up of Chani in battle

Warner Bros

Speaking to Total Film, Chani actor Zendaya also addressed the changes with her character. She pointed out that, in the first book, the fremen protagonist meets Paul and is all in on him from the jump. In the movie adaptation, she doesn’t have quite as much buy-in on the messianic Atreides stock. Zendaya said:

“In the book, Chani meets Paul and is like, ‘Alright, this is the guy. I support you.’ Whereas in our film, in no way does she bend how she feels. She’s strong in her convictions. Even when she’s falling in love, she still doesn’t like what [Paul] represents.

Chani reluctantly goes along with Paul throughout the end of “Dune: Part One” and into the early stages of “Dune: Part Two.” However, as their bond grows, she remains staunchly focused on what she sees as right — even when Paul crosses boundaries and unleashes an all-out war on the House of Harkonnen and the Padishah Emperor himself. In the end, she refuses to join his jihad to conquer the galaxy. The movie even ends with her about to ride a sandworm off into the arid dunes of Arrakis — an adjustment that is starkly different from her role in the books, where, despite her strong opinions, she fanatically remains by Paul’s side by that point in the story.

Paul as a hero and his arc in Dune: Messiah

Paul Atreides yelling in a Fremen gathering

Warner Bros

It’s easy to slip into seeing Paul as a hero in the earlier phases of the “Dune” saga. In the first book, he’s an untried youngster who is manipulated by the Bene Gesserit and, through the conniving of his own mother, accidentally becomes their long-awaited Kwisatz Haderach. In the process of that evolution, Paul loses his father and many of his favorite servants, watches his family’s material wealth seized by the Harkonnens, becomes a stone-cold killer, learns to survive in extreme desert conditions, and even loses a child (something the movies cut to maintain narrative flow).

Despite all of this, Paul ultimately becomes an undeniable anti-hero figure well before the end of his story. He spends the bulk of “Dune: Messiah” processing his own failures and the destructive path he’s torn through the galaxy. Eventually, he even flips the script and preaches against the path he has set for himself, his family, and the Fremen through his actions. While this is a gradual revelation in the books, the devolution from hero to anti-hero is happening much faster in Villeneuve’s movies. The question that remains is how Paul’s arc will continue to trend when we get the third and final installment of the director’s ground-breaking adaptation. The good news is that the third movie is already being fast-tracked, so chances are we’ll get an answer sooner rather than later.

TV & Beyond on 2025-05-03 22:20:00

by admin | May 3, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles

“Yellowstone” spin-offs creating an entire franchise centered around the travails of the Dutton family. If you thought it was Kevin Costner and the modern setting that made “Yellowstone” a hit, spin-offs “1883” and “1923” have proved that’s not the case. In the wake of all this, others have tried to join in on this Western renaissance, most conspicuously, Netflix, which has churned out hits such as Western series “American Primeval” and “Ransom Canyon,” which has been dominating the Netflix chart recently. Meanwhile, Amazon made its own attempt at reinvigorating the Western with “Outer Range” and over on traditional network TV, ABC launched “Big Sky.”

All the while, however, Sheridan was consolidating his own power. Not only was the “Yellowstone” universe growing, but the impresario of the franchise was shepherding multiple other TV shows, from spy thriller series “Lioness” to “Landman,” which may or may not be connected to “Yellowstone.” He also reportedly managed to charge Paramount $50,000 a week to film “Yellowstone” on his ranch, and, as he told CBS Sunday Morning, provided most of the horses for the show. “All the horses, for the most part, in our business are terrible,” he said. “They’re not very broke, they’re not very safe, which is one of the reasons you don’t see actors on them very often. I didn’t want to do that, so I bought all the horses for the show and then taught the actors how to ride.”

With all that in mind, it’s not all that surprising to hear that Sheridan oversaw yet another western show in “The Last Cowboy.” But this reality competition series isn’t just another “Yellowstone” spin-off.

The Last Cowboy is Taylor Sheridan’s reality competition series

A horse and rider are silhouetted against the sunlight in The Last Cowboy

Paramount

After providing the horses for “Yellowstone,” Taylor Sheridan went ahead and cast himself in the series as horse trainer Travis Wheatley. Sheridan himself hails from North Texas where he grew up around ranching, coming to own a 1,200-acre property even before turning to Hollywood. As such, he certainly has the real-life experience to play Wheatley. But it seems injecting all of this experience into “Yellowstone” wasn’t enough, as Sheridan has also taken his love for horse training and riding and made a whole documentary competition series out of it.

“The Last Cowboy” focuses on the sport of horse reining, which sees contestants leading their horses through various courses made up of precise patterns of circles, spins, and stops. The seasons end in the “Run for a Million,” a competition that sees 16 riders perform in a Las Vegas arena for a $1 million prize. As the official site of the event states, both it and “The Last Cowboy” are designed to “celebrate the growth of the western lifestyle and western performance equine industry” — something that Sheridan has, of course, had a big hand in.

The reality show, which airs on Paramount’s CMT network and streams on Paramount+, gives viewers an insight into the daily lives of the competitors and horse riders in general, following the training and preparations for the big event. “The Last Cowboy” came in last in /Film’s ranking of every Taylor Sheridan show, but that has less to do with it being a bad show and more to do with the fact that the multi-hyphenate’s true talents lie in writing his western-tinged soap operas and crime dramas.

The Last Cowboy is the hit series you’ve never heard of

Taylor Sheridan's Travis Wheatley smiles in Yellowstone

Paramount

If you’re looking for shows to watch if you love “Yellowstone,” “The Last Cowboy” is a great option for those who find Travis Wheatley’s profession of particular interest. Speaking to Bridle & Bit in 2024, Taylor Sheridan explained the genesis of the series:

“During the first season of ‘Yellowstone,’ I did a scene that included NRHA [National Reining Horse Association] riders. When I was talking to these guys about the industry, there was some discussion about the current state of the industry and how it could improve. I thought about it and started work on creating an event that would showcase and elevate the western performance genre.”

Sheridan also talked about how, since the first season, “The Last Cowboy” has evolved to incorporate more “excitement, competition, concerts, and things to do.” The show isn’t just focused on the competition, either, providing a look at the daily lives of horse trainers and the sport of horse reining as a whole. What’s more, this thing has been running for a full five seasons, so there’s plenty of binge-watchability to the series, which also seems to have fared quite well on the Paramount Network, despite nobody you know having seen it.

As Deadline reported back in 2019, upon its inaugural airing, “The Last Cowboy” scored the Paramount Network’s biggest unscripted premiere since the 2015 debut of “Ink Master: Redemption.” That may or may not make up for a lack of reviews, depending on how interested in horse reining and the resurgence of the cowboy you are. One thing’s for sure, though. “The Last Cowboy” is far from the last cowboy show we’ll see in the coming years, as Sheridan continues his mission to bring back the western for good.

TV & Beyond on 2025-05-03 21:45:00

by admin | May 3, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles

Wayne rose to fame in the 1930s, and throughout the 1940s and 1950s, built up his reputation as Hollywood’s ultimate bastion of masculinity. Wayne didn’t possess a lot of range as an actor, typically playing “John Wayne,” but his character type proved to be pliable in certain kinds of ultra-popular genre films. He was a Western star and a War Movie star, and his no-nonsense, rah-rah-America personality was eagerly eaten up by audiences. As Wayne rounded the 1960s, however, a lot of his image had begun to tarnish. This was mostly because times were changing, and the kinds of Westerns and war movies that he once headlined became gauche with a new generation. Antiwar sentiment was more popular than the pro-war propaganda that was released in the wake of World War II.

One can see Wayne struggling in his notorious stinker “The Green Berets,” a film that attempted to apply old-fashioned WWII sentiments to the Vietnam War. It was insensitive, and critics slammed it. John Wayne was no longer needed as a national symbol.

Indeed, as early as 1964, when Wayne was making films like “The Sons of Katie Elder” and “In Harm’s Way,” some filmmakers were already looking to exploit Wayne’s image for satirical purposes. Wayne’s ultra-masculinity wasn’t fashionable any longer, and some of the filmmakers of the 1960s were eager to lampoon it. Case in point: Stanley Kubrick once offered Wayne a role in his political satire “Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.” The story goes that Kubrick wanted his star, Peter Sellers, to play four different roles in the film, but an injury forced him to keep it down to three. Kubrick asked if Wayne would take the fourth role, a B-52 bomber pilot named Major Kong.

Wayne never responded, so Kubrick cast Slim Pickens instead.

Stanley Kubrick asked John Wayne to play Major Kong in Dr. Strangelove

Columbia Pictures

For those unfamiliar, “Dr. Strangelove” is a bleak spoof about nuclear proliferation. A mad American army general named Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) has become obsessed with the evils of Communism and leaned into kooky conspiracy theories about how Commies are plotting to sap and impurify our precious bodily fluids (!). As such, he circumvents the usual security protocols and launches a nuclear strike against Russia. The film takes place in the span between when Ripper gives the order and the time when the bombs are set to be released.

There are three locations throughout. In Ripper’s office, the general tells his paranoid conspiracies to a visiting British officer named Lionel Mandrake (Sellers). In the United States War Room, the President (Sellers) discusses possibilities with dozens of baffled suits, including the blustery Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott). A former Nazi doctor, Doctor Strangelove (Sellers) is also there woth the president, and he has a very strange doomsday contingent of his own.

The third location is on board a B-52 bomber that has received the order to drop its nuclear payload on Russia. Slim Pickens played the bomber’s pilot, Major Kong, the role that Sellers was supposed to play. As confirmed by co-screenwriter Terry Southern, in a 2008 interview with Medium, Kubrick actually wrote the role of Major Kong to resemble John Wayne, and wanted Sellers to do something of a John Wayne impersonation. When Sellers dropped out, Kubrick felt he should merely swing for the fences and try to hire the real deal. Southern said that Wayne was approached, but that he “dismissed it immediately.” An article in Mental Floss, however, said that Wayne merely never responded.

Evidently, “Bonanza” star Dan Blocker was also asked to play Major Kong, but he turned the script down for being “too pinko,” a pejorative slang term for being left-wing. Luckily, Slim Pickens was game, and he played the part well. Famously, Pickens didn’t know “Dr. Strangelove” was meant to be a satire, so he played his role completely straight.

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Nicolas Cage Recalls Moment He “Could Have Died” While Training for ‘The Surfer’

TV & Beyond on 2025-05-04 03:00:00

Steven Spielberg and Harve Bennet’s Invasion America is one of their most obscure projects

How was Invasion America?

TV & Beyond on 2025-05-04 00:00:00

Disney auditioned actors for an Indiana Jones animated series disguised as a Star Wars show

What is the future for Indiana Jones?

TV & Beyond on 2025-05-03 22:45:00

Chani’s changes from book to screen

Paul as a hero and his arc in Dune: Messiah

TV & Beyond on 2025-05-03 22:20:00

The Last Cowboy is Taylor Sheridan’s reality competition series

The Last Cowboy is the hit series you’ve never heard of

TV & Beyond on 2025-05-03 21:45:00

Stanley Kubrick asked John Wayne to play Major Kong in Dr. Strangelove

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