Peacock to Premiere Anya Taylor-Joy’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” in August

Posted on July 6, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Anya Taylor-Joy will be bringing peachy vibes to Peacock later this summer.

The streamer will premiere The Super Mario Bros. Movie, starring the 27-year-old Argentine American Golden Globe-winning actress as Princess Peach, on August 3rd.

Following a hugely successful run in theaters, the Universal and Illumination film will stream exclusively on the platform.

It will be joined on the streamer by behind-the-scenes cast interviews, as well as an immersive “Field Guide” expanding the film through bonus features, and a lyric video for a song sung by Princess Peach (Taylor-Joy).

The highest-grossing video game adaptation of all time, as well as the third-highest grossing animated film in history, and the top-grossing title of the year to date, The Super Mario Bros. Movie racked up over $1.3B upon its April debut in theaters, also scoring $75M+ on PVOD as of early last month, as Universal disclosed to the New York Times.

The film based on Shigeru Miyamoto’s beloved Nintendo games tells the story of two Brooklyn plumbers who are brothers and best friends: Mario (Chris Pratt), the brave one with the “let’s-a go” attitude, and the perpetually anxious Luigi (Charlie Day), who would prefer to go nowhere. We open with the Super Mario Brothers reckoning with their struggling plumbing business, and wind up in a whirlwind adventure through Mushroom Kingdom. Through their journey, we meet a cast of familiar, lovable characters, ultimately uniting together to defeat the power-hungry villain, Bowser (Jack Black).

Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, from a script by Matthew Fogel, the film also stars Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Sebastian Maniscalco, Kevin Michael Richardson, Khary Payton and Charles Martinet. Illumination’s Chris Meledandri produced alongside Miyamoto.

Anya Taylor-Joy’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” Towers Over Global Box Office Charts with $366 Million in Ticket Sales

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Everything’s peachy for Anya Taylor-Joy…

The Super Mario Bros. Movie, starring the 26-year-old Argentine American Golden Globe-winning actress, towered over box office charts with $377 million in global ticket sales, taking the title for the biggest worldwide debut of the year from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($225.3 million).

The animated film — a collaboration between Illumination, Nintendo and Universal — crushed already-high expectations, igniting to $173 million internationally and $204 million in its first five days at the domestic box office.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie opened in 70 overseas territories, including Mexico ($27.4 million), the U.K. and Ireland ($19.6 million), Germany ($14 million), China ($12 million), France ($10.4 million), Spain ($8.6 million) and Australia ($8.3 million).

With those ticket sales, The Super Mario Bros. Movie landed several overseas records, including the best international debut of the year and second-biggest animated opening of all time (behind Frozen 2 with $228.2 million). It also scored the biggest animated opening in 11 individual markets, as well as the best start for a video game adaptation in 42 individual markets.

“It’s a phenomenal number all around,” says Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, president of distribution for Universal Pictures International. “The film is based on incredible IP, which is beloved by people of different generations– young and old. This is great news for the industry.”

In addition to brand recognition and nostalgia for the popular video game, the film benefitted from positive word-of-mouth, premium theatrical formats and a months-long lack of movies targeted at family audiences.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie particularly delivered in Imax, bringing in $5 million overseas and $21.6 million globally. Those ticket sales rank as the highest animated debut ever for the company in 22 markets, including Ireland and the UK, Germany, Sweden and Netherlands.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie features the voices of Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach and Jack Black as Bowser.

Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, the story follows the mustachioed plumber and friends as they prepare to stop the all-powerful King Koopa from world domination.

Anya Taylor-Joy & “Super Mario Bros. Movie” Cast Mates Join Jimmy Fallon & The Roots to Perform Game’s Original Theme

Posted on March 10, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

It’s theme on for Anya Taylor-Joy…

In celebration of MAR10 Day (March 10), the 26-year-old Argentine American Golden Globe-winning actress joined her Super Mario Bros. Movie, Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon and The Roots to one-up the game franchise’s original theme song.

Taylor-Joy, who portrays Princess Peach, Chris Pratt, Jack Black, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Keegan-Michael Key and Charlie Day joined Fallon and his in-house band for a special Tonight Show video, singing a choral rendition of the instantly recognizable video game’s theme song.

The actors make up the main voice cast of the upcoming animated Super Mario Bros. Movie, which will arrive in theaters April 5.

In the video, Fallon and the actors take turns taking center stage as Questlove and other members of The Roots add layers of suave harmony. All the while, the singers are edited into the pixelated landscape of the Mario universe, where they pop in and out of green pipes and send shells flying at one another.

Then, Nintendo legend and Mario game creator Shigeru Miyamoto makes an appearance, and even has a little solo at the very end of the video.

Fans in the comments absolutely loved the creative take on the Mario music.

“Broooo… This is so awesome!” wrote one. “Just to see the voice cast of The Super Mario Bros Movie and even seeing Miyamoto singing [an a cappella] cover of the iconic Super Mario tracks is just phenomenal to watch.”

“The ending was a masterpiece in every way,” added another.

Nintendo Direct Releases Second Trailer for “Super Mario Bros Movie” with First Look at Anya Taylor-Joy’s Princess Peach

Posted on November 30, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a peachy moment for Anya Taylor-Joy…

The Nintendo Direct YouTube channel has unveiled the second trailer for Illumination’s Super Mario Bros Movie, starring the 26-year-old Argentine American actress as Princess Peach.

In the new trailer, Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) enters a cheering arena where he faces off with Donkey Kong (voiced by Seth Rogen). Mario jumps and the big ape catches the little guy in mid air before whacking him repeatedly.

Meanwhile, Koopa has Luigi in his grip.

“One problem, there’s a human who has a mustache just like you,” says the ogre voiced by Jack Black.

We also see Taylor-Joy’s Princess Peach for the first time.

“There’s a huge universe out there with a lot of galaxies,” Peach tells little mushroom guy, Toad.

Super Mario Bros Movie will be released next Easter Weekend, April 7-9.

On hand to introduce the trailer were the film’s producers Chris Melendandri, and Donkey Kong and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, as well as Rogen (with his dog named Zelda) and Taylor-Joy.

Anya Taylor-Joy to Star in Skydance’s “The Gorge”

Posted on October 14, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Anya Taylor-Joy is preparing for a Gorge-ous role…

The 26-year-old Argentine American actress will star opposite Miles Teller in Skydance’s The Gorge.

In addition, Apple Original Films has boarded the genre-bending love story.

Scott Derrickson will direct with Zach Dean penning the script, which he sold on spec to Skydance last year.

In addition to starring, Teller will serve as executive producer on the film.

Plot details are being kept under wraps other then it being described as a high-action, genre-bending love story.

The project gained some serious momentum this summer when Teller began eyeing it as his next film following the global success of his summer tentpole Top Gun: Maverick. Derrickson had been previously attached but was also weighing other projects following the success of one of the years biggest horror films The Black Phone but once Teller committed to the film, Derrickson was quick to name it his next directing job and the project was fast-tracked by Skydance.

Given Apple and Skydance’s first-look partnership, the studio looked to be in pole position to land the film and once Taylor-Joy signed on, Apple was quick to make it official.

Taylor-Joy, a SAG Award and Golden Globe winner, currently appears in David O. Russell’s Amsterdam.

The Queen’s Gambit star will next appear in the dark comedy The Menu, which also stars Ralph Fiennes and Nicholas Hoult.

She recently wrapped production on the highly-anticipated Furiosa, a spin-off film from George Miller, which is based on the character from Mad Max: Fury Road. She is also set to voice Princess Peach in Universal and Illumination’s Super Mario Bros. movie.

Searchlight Pictures Releases Trailer for Anya Taylor-Joy’s Darkly Comic Horror Film “The Menu”

Posted on June 1, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Anya Taylor-Joy’s plate is full… But of what?

Searchlight Pictures has released the first teaser for its darkly comic horror film The Menu, starring the 26-year-old Argentine American actress, Ralph Fiennes and Nicholas Hoult.

Hailing from director Mark Mylod, the film sees a couple (Taylor-Joy and Hoult) travel to a coastal island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where Chef Slowik (Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.

The trailer shows Slowik welcome guests to a restaurant named Hawthorne.

“It’ll be our pleasure to feed you,” he says. “Over the next few hours, you will ingest fat, salt, protein and at times, entire ecosystems.”

It sounds fair enough, until Hawthorne’s dark side is quickly revealed, with the Chef warning Taylor-Joy’s Margot that she shouldn’t be there.

“You, my dear guests, are not the common man. Isn’t that right?” he later says. “What happens inside this room is meaningless compared to what happens outside. We are but a frightened nanosecond; nature is timeless.”

While it hasn’t been explicitly stated what “shocking surprises” await those heading to Hawthorne, it seems probable that cannibalism plays some role in this tale.

The Menu‘s cast also includes Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Judith Light, Reed Birney, Paul Adelstein, Aimee Carrero, Arturo Castro, Mark St. Cyr, Rob Yang and John Leguizamo.

Seth Reiss and Will Tracy wrote the script, with Hyperobject Industries’ Betsy Koch and Adam McKay producing, Michael Sledd executive producing, and Hyperobject’s Jenna Go serving as associate producer.

The film is slated for release in theaters on November 18.

Netflix to Launch Season 6 of “Peaky Blinders,” Featuring Anya Taylor-Joy’s Return to the Cast, in June

Posted on March 10, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Anya Taylor-Joy is ready for the Peaky of summer on Netflix…

Netflix has set the premiere date for the sixth and final season of period gangster epic Peaky Blinders, which sees the return of the 25-year-old Argentine American actress to the cast, for early June around the world.

All six episodes of Season 6 will launch on the streaming service on June 10 in the U.S. and all markets where Netflix has the show’s rights.

Peaky Blinders is currently enjoying a strong run in the UK.

The Cillian Murphy-led series debuted its sixth season in late February on BBC One in the UK, setting a new record for a season launch at 3.8 million overnight viewers. That was the best score for the Shelby clan in a debut episode ever and also tied the series’ overall record, which was previously set by the Season 5 finale in September 2019.

Season 6 is the last run of the drama in series form. However, creator Steven Knight recently confirmed to us that a movie is definitely going to happen with the same players.

In Season 6, Murphy’s Tommy Shelby will square off with various foes, but the most formidable enemy he has is himself. Also returning are Tom Hardy, Paul Anderson, Finn Cole, Taylor-Joy, Natasha O’Keeffe and Sophie Rundle, among others.

Stephen Graham and James Frecheville also appear. Co-star Helen McCrory (Polly Gray) passed away last year and the first episode of Season 6 is dedicated to her.

Peaky Blinders began airing on BBC Two in 2013 and went on to win the BAFTA for Best Drama in its fourth season. It then moved to BBC One in 2019 and has continued to grow its rabid fanbase.

Anya Taylor-Joy Returning for Sixth & Final Season of BBC’s Period Drama “Peaky Blinders”

Posted on January 1, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Anya Taylor-Joy is putting her Blinders back on…

The BBC has released the trailer for the sixth and final season of its hit period gangster saga Peaky Blinders, featuring extended footage of the 25-year-old Argentine American actress, who will be reprising her role as Gina Gray in the upcoming season.

An air date has not yet been announced, although it has been teased for early 2022.

Cillian Murphy is back as Tommy Shelby, seeking a means for the titular Birmingham-based clan to finally rest.

In addition to Murphy and Taylor-Joy, Tom Hardy, Paul Anderson, Finn Cole, and Sophie Rundle, among others, return for the final season. Stephen Graham also appears. Co-star Helen McCrory passed away in April of 2021. The fate of her Aunt Polly is not disclosed in the trailer released today.

Creator and writer Steven Knight previously said of the sixth season, “Peaky is back and with a bang. After the enforced production delay due to the COVID pandemic, we find the family in extreme jeopardy and the stakes have never been higher. We believe this will be the best series of all and are sure that our amazing fans will love it. While the TV series will be coming to an end, the story will continue in another form.”

The sixth season of Peaky Blinders is written by Knight, while Anthony Byrne returns as director having helmed season five to great acclaim, and Nick Goding produces.

Created and entirely written by Knight, the beloved drama first aired on BBC Two eight years ago, winning the BAFTA for Best Drama in its fourth season and then making the move to BBC One in 2019 with audiences of over 7M. Outside the UK, it airs on Netflix.

Anya Taylor-Joy Performs Haunting Cover of Petula Clark’s “Downtown” in Trailer for “Last Night in Soho”

Posted on October 20, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Anya Taylor-Joy is headed downtown…

The 25-year-old Argentine American actress and Queen’s Gambit star performs a haunting, downtempo cover of Petula Clark‘s iconic 1964 hit “Downtown” in the trailer for Last Night in Soho.

In the preview, Taylor-Joy, her voice slathered in echo, stands behind a mic in a recording studio and croons the track’s iconic hook, “When you’re alone and life is making you lonely/ You can always go/ Downtown.”

Backed by a haunting string section, the Golden Globe-winning actress flies high above the action in her ethereal voice as the screen fills with images from the upcoming Edgar Wright-directed horror thriller that also stars Thomasin McKenzie, Matt Smith and Terence Stamp; the film is due out on Oct. 29.

A description of the film finds aspiring fashion designer Eloise (McKenzie), “mysteriously [entering] the 1960s where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer, Sandie [Taylor-Joy)]. But the glamour is not all it appears to be and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something far darker.”

Clark’s signature hit “Downtown” — featuring then-session player Jimmy Page on guitar — climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in January 1965 and was ushered into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003. Over the years, it has been covered by everyone from Dolly Parton to Marianne Faithfull, the Osmond Brothers, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Frank Sinatra, Yo La Tengo, The Saw Doctors and Baby Spice Emma Bunton.

Arturo Castro to Star in the Gourmet Dark Satire “The Menu”

Posted on October 6, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Arturo Castro is ordering off The Menu…

The 35-year-old Guatemalan actor has been cast in Searchlight Pictures’ gourmet dark satire The Menu, which is currently filming in Savannah, GA.

Castro joins a roster of new cast additions that includes Paul Adelstein, Rob Yang, Mark St. Cyr, Rebecca Koon, Peter Grosz and Christina Brucato.

They join the previously announced line-up of the Mark Mylod-directed feature: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau (Elsa), Janet McTeer (Lillian Bloom), John Leguizamo (as Movie Star), Aimee Carrero (Felicity), Reed Birney (Richard) and Judith Light (Anne).

Based on an original screenplay by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, The Menu follows a young couple, Margot and Tyler (Taylor-Joy and Hoult), who travel to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where Chef Slowik (Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.

Castro will portray Soren.

He previously appeared on the Comedy Central series Broad City and the Netflix series Narcos.

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