On the last episode of the It’s the Pictures podcast, we talked about the Brendan Fraser remake of The Mummy and its sequels. The idea was to highlight a fun adventure movie, while simultaneously bringing attention to some new films like Black Widow, No Sudden Move, and Jungle Cruise that featured members of The Mummy extended cast.
I briefly mentioned Brendan Fraser and how he’s ready for a comeback of his own.
In a 2018 GQ interview by Zach Baron, Fraser was quite candid about his life from the completion of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in 2008 until 2018. The number of movies he did in the early ’00s was extensive and it took a toll on his body. “I believe I probably was trying too hard, in a way that’s destructive,” Fraser told GQ. Ice packs became a daily ritual for the movie star and it led to multiple surgeries that kept him in and out of hospitals for almost seven years.
As if coming back from serious physical pain wasn’t enough, Fraser went through many difficult life events; A divorce, the loss of his mother, and being sexually assaulted by a member of the HFPA. These multiple points of tragedy and the assault had a significant effect on Fraser. As if that wasn’t enough, his confidence took a blow right around the time he started in Looney Tunes: Back in Action. He started to believe he wasn’t suited for the job anymore and the movies he selected showed his waining self-assurance.
Thankfully, in 2018, his career started to turn around for the better. He appeared in Trust, the television adaptation of the John Paul Getty III story. And currently, he has a recurring role on the television series Doom Patrol. He did some light work for Steven Soderbergh in No Sudden Move and now he’s just finished shooting a starring role in the new Darren Aronofsky movie, The Whale.
This brings us to today.
According to Deadline, Brendan Fraser has joined the casts of Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and Max Barbakow’s Brothers.
In Killers, Fraser will appear alongside Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as, an extended cast featuring the likes of Jesse Plemons and Lily Gladstone. It’s a humongous project and a great opportunity for the beloved actor.
Brothers has a script from Barbakow whose last feature, Palm Springs, was an absolute riot. While the plot is being kept under wraps, he will be joining Peter Dinklage, Josh Brolin, and Glenn Close in the film.
To say everyone is happy for Fraser would be a bit of an understatement:
I agree that it’s fantastic news that we’ll see Fraser back in theaters. If you’re interested in seeing him right now, you can catch Doom Patrol or No Sudden Move on HBO Max.
Links
First up, I have a new article to share. For Polygon, I wrote about Discotek Media’s preservation efforts for Anime. One of Discotek’s newest titles, Katsuhiro Otomo’s Memories was recently released and is an absolute gem of a release.
Almost seventeen months after its initial release date announcement, David Lowery’s The Green Knight was finally released to theaters. The Ringer Staff took a look at the movie and provided their thoughts (spoilers ahead).
If you didn’t see the announcement on Twitter, It’s the Pictures will be covering the Toronto International Film Festival 2021. TIFF is doing a hybrid in-person/remote festival and I’ll be handling the coverage remotely. Chris Evangelista of Slashfilm compiled a list of some of the titles premiering at the festival. Anything you are looking for to seeing?
I’ve been watching a lot of different children’s shows these days. Not all of them are created equally and one of my favorites is Bluey (Available on Disney+). Before the second season launched in the States, Kathryn VanArendonk of Vulture discussed the series and heaped praise upon it. My personal favorites are Sleepytime, Bob Bilby, Camping, and Takeaway.