When it comes to modern horror franchises, few get moviegoers more excited than A Quiet Place. Over the past decade, the two mainline films and the 2024 spinoff/prequel have left audiences in awe with frightening monsters, rich family dynamics, and some of the most unforgettable theatrical experiences in recent memory. Now, we’re going to go through it all again with A Quiet Place Part III.

If you want to learn all about what’s next for the Abbott family after the bone-chilling and heartpounding events of A Quiet Place Part II’s ending, who is involved this time around, and most importantly, when it’s coming out, stick around. I am about to break down everything we know about one of the most anticipated new horror movies on the horizon. Though I’m excited, let’s try to keep the noise down so we don’t get any of those “Death Angels” after us before the release date…

The Quiet Place Part III Release Date

So, when is A Quiet Place Part III’s release date? Well, Deadline announced in late 2025 that the third chapter in the ongoing Abbott family saga will open in theaters on July 30, 2027, after previously being scheduled to hit theaters three weeks earlier. Though I wish we would be picking up with the family at some point on the 2026 movie schedule, what’s another year after already waiting so long to have those lingering questions answered from the 2021 installment?

A Quiet Place Part III doesn’t share the date with any competition (not yet, anyway), but the summer 2027 blockbuster season is already shaping up to be one for the ages. With Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, Shrek 5, Man of Tomorrow, and the Minecraft sequel coming out between June and July, there’s going to be a lot going on.

The Quiet Place Part III Cast

Since the franchise’s frightening debut back in 2018, A Quiet Place has introduced audiences to some of the most unforgettable characters in modern horror history with the Abbott Family. While we still don’t know if John Krasinski’s Lee Abbott will appear in any flashbacks like the intense A Quiet Place Part II opening chapter, the family members who survived the second film, along with Cillian Murphy’s character, will be returning.

The returning cast members aren’t alone, as Krasinski announced on his Instagram in March 2026 that Jack O’Connell, Jason Clarke, and Katy O’Brian, all of whom have horror experience, would be joining the cast. However, their identities have not yet been revealed at the time of this writing. I’m especially interested in O’Connell’s role, as I would love to see him branch out from his trend of playing menacing villains.

Here’s the full list of everyone announced so far:

• Emily Blunt as Evelyn Abbott
• Cillian Murphy as Emmett
• Millicent Simmonds as Regan Abbott
• Noah Jupe as Marcus Abbott
• Jack O’Connell
• Jason Clarke
• Katy O’Brian

John Krasinski Is Back As Writer And Director

Though it’s still not known if he’ll appear in the movie, John Krasinski is serving as both the writer and director once again to make A Quiet Place Part III. A fixture of the franchise since the very beginning (he co-wrote the screenplay with series creators Scott Beck and Bryan Woods as well as the Day One script with director Michael Sarnoski), the Office alum has been pushing the project from behind the scenes for a number of years now, with Emily Blunt telling Collider in May 2021 that her husband and co-star had a “whole arc of ideas that could work” for the planned trilogy.

Going by Krasinski’s Instagram post mentioned above in the cast section, it seems like he’s already finished penning the script. Now the waiting game begins for word on production (more on that later).

What Is A Quiet Place III About?

Everyone involved with A Quiet Place Part III has been tight-lipped about the movie’s plot (not just because the monsters have insane hearing), but many of us want to know what’s going to go down when we pick back up with the Abbott family next summer. While details are essentially nonexistent at this point, I would be shocked if the latest installment doesn’t make use of Regan Abbott’s discovery at the end of A Quiet Place Part II.

You may recall she learned she could transmit a high-frequency radio signal with her cochlear implant to incapacitate the monsters and give her enough time to kill them. The movie ends with the family broadcasting the signal to other survivors, giving humanity hope. It would be interesting to see how this plan is carried out and where the movie picks up. I guess we’ll have to wait until next July…

Is There Any News On A Quiet Place Part III’s Production?

As far as I know, nothing has been announced about when A Quiet Place Part III will enter production. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if cameras are rolling at some point before the start of summer.

First, the script appears to be finished or at least enough for the screenplay to be given to the cast. Next, the film is set for release in July 2027, and there’s bound to be a fair amount of post-production work. Then, there’s John Krasinski’s upcoming action thriller, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Ghost War, which is slated to hit theaters on May 20, 2026. I imagine he will have some press work to do in the lead-up to the film’s release, meaning it’ll probably be this summer.

How To Watch The Previous A Quiet Place Movies

At the time of this writing, it has been just short of eight years since A Quiet Place stormed into theaters and kicked off a massive horror franchise. That said, there’s a good chance that some out there haven’t revisited the 2018 instant classic since then. If you’re in that camp and want to go back and watch the full series, all three movies are streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.

• Stream A Quiet Place on Paramount+.
• Stream A Quiet Place Part II on Paramount+.
• Stream A Quiet Place: Day One on Paramount+.

Expect to hear a whole lot more about A Quiet Place Part III in the weeks and months to come.

October is here, and while that may mean wall-to-wall horror movies for a lot of fans with streaming subscriptions, there’s actually a great deal more to enjoy streaming this week. Here’s a look at six non-horror movies and series that might be worth checking out.

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, Season 2 - October 8 (Disney+)

If there’s something to be said for traditional television, it’s that the gap between seasons of new TV is still pretty small. Such is the case with Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, the Disney Channel series that is responsible for most of the world being introduced to Selena Gomez. The second season of the reboot series, co-produced by Gomez makes its debut with your Disney+ subscription this week.

Maintenance Required - October 8 (Prime Video)

In an era where smaller movies continue to struggle theatrically, streaming has become a key platform for classics like the old-fashioned rom-com. Maintenance Required stars Madelaine Petsch and Jacob Scipio as anonymous online friends with a spark between them who are also real-life business rivals.

How To Train Your Dragon - October 10 (Peacock)

While Disney may get the credit for creating the concept of the live-action remake of an animated film, other studios have clearly gotten the memo. The live-action version of How To Train Your Dragon was a solid box office hit, and a sequel is already on the way. If you’re one of the few who didn’t catch the movie the first time around, or you just want to see it again, you can do so with a Peacock subscription this week.

John Candy: I Like Me - October 10 (Prime Video)

John Candy is one of the most beloved comedians of all time. John Candy: I Like Me, the new documentary film from director Colin Hanks and producer Ryan Reynolds, takes a look at the life and career of Candy, including numerous interviews from his friends, family, and co-stars. After debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival, you’ll need a Prime Video subscription to see it this week.

The Woman In Cabin 10 - October 10 (Netflix)

Keira Knightley stars in The Woman in Cabin 10 as a journalist covering a charity event on board a luxury yacht when she witnesses what she believes is a woman going overboard. The problem is that, according to everybody else, everybody on board is accounted for. With a cast that includes Guy Pearce, Hannah Waddingham, and fellow Pirates of the Caribbean alum Kaya Scodelario, this one looks to be a suspenseful thriller worth having your Netflix subscription ready.

The Last Frontier - October 10 (Apple TV+)

Jon Bokenkamp, the creator of The Blacklist, is back with a brand new series, The Last Frontier. Jason Clarke stars as a U.S. Marshall stationed in Alaska when a planeload of convicts goes down, leading to multiple escapes. This one looks to have plants of twists and turns in the plot, not unlike Bokenkamp’s previous effort. To see this one, you’ll need an Apple TV+ subscription.

If more horror is what you’re looking for, fear not. The coming weeks will have plenty of spooky stuff coming to streaming, including the debut of IT: Welcome to Derry, something fans of the recent film won’t want to miss.

Silk Road tells the story of Ross Ulbricht (Nick Robinson, Love Simon), the young man who created the titular darknet market website allowing people to buy narcotics online in 2011. Simultaneously, the film follows DEA agent Rick Bowden (Jason Clarke, Terminator Genisys) who went undercover to take Ulbricht down. While Silk Road is a theatrical crime drama based on a true story rather than a documentary, many have been surprised that the film doesn’t pick a side on Ulbricht’s guilt, and writer/director Tiller Russell has shared what that is.

After his arrest in 2013, Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison, and a petition has been started for his clemency. Rather than depict him as a criminal or a wrongly-convicted individual, Silk Road portrays Ulbricht as a human who made a decision and shows the fallout. The audience is left to decide whether or not they agree with the fallout, and director Tiller Russell talked to CinemaBlend about why he didn’t want to film to tell the audience whether Ulbricht is innocent or guilty.

That makes a lot of sense. The purpose of making this film was not to sway people into feeling one way or the other about what happened but to tell the very interesting story that the court case presented, and offer multiple angles from which to view it. Tiller Russell certainly accomplished that, as he shows us pieces of the story from the lens of the DEA, agent Rick Bowden, Russ Ulbricht’s family and friends, and Ulbricht himself. Russell shared the following about the character development:

Comparing Silk Road to a Frankenstein story is the perfect analogy. What we see in the film is exactly what Tiller Russell described: a well-intentioned creation that gets out of control. And establishing the “before” is probably the element that makes the storytelling really work in the end, because we see the character change over time and exactly how he got there.

Silk Road is now in now on Digital, On Demand, and in select theaters. The crime drama arrives on Blu-ray and DVD February 23. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments - what do you think about the ending? Is there a clear right and wrong here, or a grey area?

Based on the novel of the same name by Donald Ray Pollock (who also serves as the movie's narrator), Netflix's The Devil All The Time is a morbid and moody streaming exclusive, featuring an all-star ensemble which includes noteworthy stars like Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Bill Skarsgard, Mia Wasikowska, Haley Bennett, Sebastian Stan, Riley Keough, Jason Clarke, and more. Co-written and directed by Antonio Campos (Christine), it's not an easy film to watch, and it ultimately divided critics, though its substantial star power made it a Netflix hit shortly after its debut.

While watching the film, if you found yourself wondering where you've seen this actor or that person before, we're here to help. This stacked cast is filled with a lot of recognizable talent, though it can be hard to remember everything they've done in the past few years. With that said, here's where you probably recognized them.

Tom Holland (Arvin Eugene Russell)

As Arvin Eugene Russell, the son of Willard and Charlotte and the step brother of Leonara, Tom Holland plays the lead role in The Devil All The Time. By now, most moviegoers know Holland best as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The English actor played the part in five films, including Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home. In addition to these mega-blockbusters,

Holland also starred in The Impossible, Locke, In the Heart of the Sea, The Lost City of Z, The Current War, and How I Live Now. Additionally, he provided his voice to last year's Spies in Disguise and this year's Dolittle and Onward. Outside of film, Holland notably played the title role in a stage production of Billy Elliott. Next, the actor will be seen in Chaos Walking, Cherry, and Uncharted.

Bill Skarsgård (Willard Russell)

In the role of Willard Russell, Arvin's father and Charlotte's husband, Bill Skarsgard is seen prominently in the first act of The Devil All The Time. The Swedish actor has been in the acting business in 2000, though he didn't find a wide audience until he memorably adopted the role of Pennywise in IT and IT: Chapter Two.

Prior to these horror hits, Skarsgard was also seen in Anna Karenina, The Divergent Series: Allegiant, and Atomic Blonde, to name a few. Following IT's success, Skarsgard nabbed some more high profile roles in movies like Deadpool 2, Assassination Nation, and Villains. Outside of film, the actor played a role in Netflix's Hemlock Grove and he was recently seen in Hulu's Castle Rock. Up next, Skarsgard is set to be seen in Naked Singularity and Cherry, which also stars Tom Holland.

Riley Keough (Sandy Henderson)

Playing the part of Sandy Henderson, a serial killer in an unsettling marriage with Carl, Riley Keough provides one of the lead roles in The Devil All The Time. The eldest granddaughter of Elvis Presley, Keough has impressed in a variety of movies and shows — both big and small — within the past few years. She made her debut in The Runaways back in 2010, and she was notably seen in the lead role of The Girlfriend Experience's acclaimed first season. 

Other noteworthy appearances include Magic Mike, Mad Max: Fury Road, American Honey, It Comes At Night, Logan Lucky, The House That Jack Built, Jack & Diane, Hold the Dark, Paterno, The Lodge, and Earthquake Bird. Also, Keough starred in Zola, which earned a great deal of acclaim following its premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival. It's unclear when it's expected to be released.

Jason Clarke (Carl Henderson)

As Carl Henderson, a serial killer in a troubling relationship with his wife Sandy, Jason Clarke plays a key role throughout The Devil All The Time. The Australian actor has bounced between film and television since the mid '90s, though he later found success and recognition in movie roles like Public Enemies, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Trust, and Lawless before Zero Dark Thirty, The Great Gatsby, White House Down, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes made him a prominent performer. 

From there, Clarke has notably been seen in Terminator Genisys, Everest, All I See Is You, Mudbound, Chappaquiddick, Winchester, First Man, and last year's Serenity and Pet Sematary remake. He's also known for his starring role in the series Brotherhood, which ran from 2006-2008. The actor was also seen in last year's mini-series, Catherine the Great. Next, he'll be seen in Silk Road.

Eliza Scanlen (Lenora Laferty)

In the role of Lenora Laferty, Arvin's adopted step sister, Eliza Scanlen plays a tragic role throughout the middle section of The Devil All The Time. The Australian actress is a relative newcomer, though she got her start on the popular soap opera series, Home and Away. From there, she starred in HBO's mini-series, Sharp Objects, and she played Beth March in Greta Gerwig's Little Women. 

Most recently, Scanlen was seen in the acclaimed indie, Babyteeth, earlier this year. Outside of film and television, Scanlen appeared in stage productions of To Kill a Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies last year. She also wrote and directed the short film Mukbang earlier this year. Next, Scanlen is expected to be seen in M. Night Shyamalan's newest untitled thriller, which is currently slated for release on July 23rd, 2021.

Sebastian Stan (Sheriff Lee Bodecker)

As Sheriff Lee Bodecker, Sandy's law enforcement brother, Sebastian Stan plays a prominent role in the second half of The Devil All The Time. Much like his co-star Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan is best known for his commitments to the MCU in the role of Bucky Barnes, i.e. The Winter Soldier. As this (occasionally) antagonistic character, Stan has been seen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. 

Outside of Marvel movies, Stan is known or recognized for his performances in films like I, Tonya, Ricki and the Flash, The Martian, Destroyer, The Bronze, Black Swan, Logan Lucky, Hot Tub Time Machine, and Rachel Getting Married. He also starred in Gossip Girl and the mini-series Political Animals. He'll next be seen in Monday, which recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and 355.

Robert Pattinson (Reverend Preston Teagardin)

In the role of Reverend Preston Teagardin, a shady new preacher, Robert Pattinson provides a memorable turn throughout the mid-section of The Devil All The Time. Though he's still best known for his role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight saga, Pattinson has since expanded himself into a variety of bold and off-kilter projects, both big and small. 

Notably, Pattinson has starred in Good Time, The Lighthouse, High Life, The Rover, Cosmopolis, Maps to the Stars, The Lost City of Z, Damsel, Queen of the Desert, The King, and Waiting for the Barbarians. He also recently starred in Tenet, and he's been seen in films like Water For Elephants, Remember Me, How To Be, Little Ashes, Vanity Fire, Life, The Childhood of a Leader, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Next, Pattinson stars in The Batman, one of his most high-profile roles yet.

Haley Bennett (Charlotte Russell)

Playing the part of Charlotte Russell, Arvin's mother and Willard's wife, Haley Bennett played an emotional role in the first 30 minutes of The Devil All The Time. Making her debut in 2007's Music and Lyrics, Bennett has been seen in films like College, Marley & Me, Kaboom, Kristy, The Equalizer, The Magnificent Seven (2016), The Girl on the Train, Hardcore Henry, Rules Don't Apply, Thank You For Your Service, and The Red Sea Diving Resort. 

She was also seen in Swallow earlier this year, where she also served as an executive producer. Up next, Bennett is set to be seen in Hillbilly Elegy, which is another Netflix prestige drama, later this year. She's also attached to Cyrano, the new film from Joe Wright, her partner.

Harry Melling (Roy Laferty)

As Roy Laferty, Lenora's evangelical preacher and Lenora's father, Harry Melling is a prominent player in the first third of The Devil All The Time. To many, Melling is most commonly known for playing Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter franchise. these popular fantasy films remained his only film acting experience, though he branched out into other cinematic endeavors with 2016's The Lost City Of Z, which also starred Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson. 

From there, Melling was seen in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Keeper, Waiting for the Barbarians, and, most recently, The Old Guard —another high-profile Netflix blockbuster. While these titles remain his only film roles, it's worth noting that Melling also starred in shows like Merlin, His Dark Materials, and 2019's War of the Worlds. Next, he'll star in Say Your Prayers and Macbeth. Additionally, he'll appear in Netflix's The Queen's Gambit.

Mia Wasikowska (Helen Hatton Laferty)

Playing the role of Helen Hatton Laferty, Lenora's mother and Roy's husband, Mia Wasikowska isn't given a lot of screentime in The Devil All The Time, but she plays a key role in the movie's first act. As an actress, Wasikowska is best known for her title role in 2010's Alice in Wonderland and its sequel, Alice Through The Looking Glass. She is also well-known for her work in Jane Eyre, The Kids Are All Right, Stoker, Lawless, Albert Nobbs, Maps to the Stars, The Double, Only Lovers Left Alive, Crimson Peak, Damsel, Madame Bovery, Tracks, and Piercing. 

Wasikowska was also recently seen in Judy & Punch and Blackbird. Outside of film, the actress also played a reoccurring role in In Treatment. Next, she's set to star in Bergman Island, the newest film from director Mia Hansen-Løve.

Michael Banks Repeta (Young Arvin Russell)

As a young Arvin Russell, the nine-year-old version of our lead protagonist, Michael Banks Repeta is seen prominently throughout the first half of The Devil All The Time. The child actor is still making his way into Hollywood. Notably since this movie is easily his biggest role to date. Outside of his work in this new streaming movie, Repeta was recently seen in episodes of HBO's Lovecraft Country and The Outsider. He also played a role in the series Gone and a recurring role in Manhunt. 

The young actor was in the film Uncle Frank, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It's expected to be released on VOD on November 26th. The actor got his start in the 2017 short film, Happy Birthday, Barbara, and he'll next be seen in the short film, Mercy.

The Devil All The Time is now available to stream on Netflix.

Sometimes, to be a fan is to be loyal to the ends of the earth. Stephen King is certainly no stranger to this phenomenon, as his career as a best-selling horror author has inspired legions of faithful fans to hold his works up as fright inducing gospel.

What might surprise some is that when it came to the Pet Sematary remake, they couldn’t have made a better choice than to cast actor Jason Clarke as the beleaguered patriarch of the Creed family that runs afoul of the titular burial ground. And Clarke was so faithful to the material from that 1983 novel, that he technically kept blowing the production of several scenes in directors Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer’s recent remake.

In honor of the home video release for the 2019 remake to Pet Sematary, CinemaBlend got to speak to the pair of directors behind the film, in addition to plumbing the depths of the film’s home video special features.

Perhaps the crowning jewel of those features, besides the extended and alternate scenes and the promised alternate ending, is a behind the scenes look at the film’s production, entitled “Beyond The Deadfall”. Broken up into several parts, there’s a ton of information about how Pet Sematary brought the classic Stephen King novel to life for a new generation of moviegoer.

It’s there that the eager viewer is able to learn that not only is Jason Clarke a huge fan of the source material he was involved in adapting as an actor, but he was given a special nickname because of it: “The Archivist.”

That nickname was bestowed upon him by Kölsch and Widmyer, the latter of which further explained just how deep Clarke’s fandom ran, and in this particular anecdote, how it was as much of a curse as it was a blessing:

In Pet Sematary, “Oz The Gweat and Tewwible” is a concept originated in connection to the death of Rachel Creed’s sister, Zelda, and throughout the book the invocation of that name is used to sinister effect. A metaphor for the specter of death, it’s one of the many references to the original source that sticks with fans, and Jason Clarke is no exception to that.

What makes Jason Clarke’s dedication to the original so interesting is that while the film does stay loyal to the concept and the world of Pet Sematary, it still made some pretty big changes to the ultimate endgame. Changes that were approved by Stephen King himself, but were adjustments nonetheless. That being said, it’s not exactly something that translates to the screen all that well, as I learned when Dennis Widmyer continued to explain:

That wasn’t the only reference that Jason Clarke would bring to the table though, as there were other small details that he’d throw into his performance in Pet Sematary that showed just how much he loved that book.

One particular example of an unscripted reference was during one of the deadfall sequences, where Jason Clarke’s Louis Creed is about to bury his daughter Ellie. In the book, Jud Crandall mentions that he doesn’t know exactly how many steps lead to the top of the deadfall; only for Louis to later remark that it was indeed 45 steps.

That original question isn’t in the 2019 version of the film, but sure enough, Jason Clarke made a reference to it on set during the filming. Even something as small as using rocks from the ground itself for the ritual was a detail that he brought to the table, and as it was discussed in “Beyond The Deadfall”, it did manage to also help Widmyer and Kevin Kölsch’s directing at times.

Sometimes, the source material feels so foreign to a finished project like Pet Sematary, you have to wonder if the people involved even read the original book. That’s certainly a claim that can’t be made towards this film though, as the spirit of Stephen King’s work is baked into every inch of the film.

While it’s easy to see just how Jason Clarke’s devotion to the written word of the original novel could hurt at times, it’s always good to see someone bringing to much loyalty to the table, only to see it scaled back into a more reasonable context.

It’s also a good word in Jason Clarke’s favor for anyone who wants to make a Stephen King movie in the future, as bringing him into other projects centering around the author’s work sounds like one of the best ideas a creative talent could ever have. When it comes to bringing legendary best-sellers to life, everyone can use a good archivist to keep things on the straight and narrow.

Pet Sematary is now available on Digital HD, 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD; and you can order your copy here, if you’re interested in taking it home. But be warned, what you buy is what you own.

James Kent’s The Aftermath is a film with no shortage of drama. It’s set in post-World War II Germany; it has a British couple occupying the home of a suspicious, wealthy architect and his daughter; the relationship at the center of the story is about ready to collapse due to temptation and a past tragedy still brimming with unresolved feelings. On paper, these are ingredients that add up to an engaging period romance – and it’s really because of all of this potential that the movie is a sincere disappointment.

For all The Aftermath has going on -- including strong performances from its leads -- the whole production feels completely inert, and with its intensely deliberate pace is primarily just dull. What could be interesting plot elements are tossed by the wayside in favor of developing a central relationship that crawls along, all leading to a conclusion that makes you wonder why you just spent 108 minutes watching the whole story unfold.

An adaptation of the novel of the same name by Rhidian Brook, The Aftermath begins as Rachael Morgan (Kiera Knightley) travels to Hamburg, Germany, where she is to be reunited with her husband Lewis (Jason Clarke) after much time apart. A colonel with the British Forces, Lewis has been given a key role in the reconstruction of the city, and during their stay the couple is assigned the palatial home belonging to the quiet and mysterious Stephen Lubert (Alexander Skarsgard). Despite the fact that Rachael is both anticipating more quality time with her spouse, and is clearly made uncomfortable by the Germans, Lewis agrees to let Stephen and his daughter Freda (Flora Thiemann) remain in the house, staying in the service quarters on the top floor.

While Lewis heavily invested in his work, Rachael is left feeling isolated and like a stranger in a strange land – exacerbating her depression that has been lingering since the death of her young son during The Blitz. Her loneliness is slowly abated, however, as she begins to spend more time with Stephen at home, and it’s a relationship that slowly (very, very slowly) becomes more than just friendship.

There is some meat on the bones of the characters being played here, with the highlights being the epic emotional suppression demonstrated by Lewis as he simultaneously expresses surprising sympathy for the post-war Germans, and Rachael’s painful attempts to maintain a brave face. Unfortunately, they aren’t supported by a strong enough script to allow you to be fully absorbed by the performances. Because there is so much being balanced in the narrative, the audience is led to be less watching than simply following, and even still there are seriously big plot developments that go without any real conclusions (the most significant being a missing painting from the front hall in Stephen’s house, and his relationship with the Nazi party).

This would be mostly forgivable if The Aftermath were to provide a strong ending that properly captured the emotional journey of the characters, but it doesn’t do that. Obviously not too much can be said without giving away absolutely everything, but given all of the drawn-out set up there are choices made by the characters that don’t properly track with the momentum of the story, and what is already a dry experience gets insult added to injury.

The Aftermath is meant to have a dual meaning – referencing both the post-war period and the status of Rachael and Lewis’ marriage following the death of their son – but the movie really manages to leave both halves feeling half-baked and lacking. It’s a film that die-hard fans of the principals should seek out, as there are some impressive moments, but at the same time it's not one that can be recommended to everyday period romantic drama enthusiasts.

Sometimes dead is better, but Hollywood must rest on an ancient burial ground, because nothing ever truly stays dead for long. The latest property to rise from its grave like a demonic child is Stephen King's Pet Sematary. The remake of the 1989 film finally gained some traction last October when Starry Eyes helmers Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer were brought aboard to direct. Now it appears as if this movie will indeed be happening, as casting has begun and Terminator Genisys' Jason Clarke is in talks to play Doctor Louis Creed, the character portrayed by Dale Midkiff in the original film.

For those unfamiliar with Stephen King's 1983 novel or the 1989 film adaptation, Pet Sematary tells the story of a doctor who moves his family to the country. Nearby is a pet cemetery that rests on a Native American burial ground, which is probably something you should look for ahead of time, like checking out the schools in the area. When the doctor's son dies in a tragic accident, he takes the boy's body to the cemetery where, surprise, it comes back to life in murderous demonic form. Jason Clarke's potential casting, as broke by The Hollywood Reporter, indicates that Paramount is taking this remake seriously. Jason Clarke is a talented actor who is currently receiving critical acclaim for his performance in Chappaquiddick. He is a great choice to bring the heartbreak and desperation to the character of Louis Creed, who in his grief makes the dumbest of decisions.

A remake of Pet Sematary has been in development hell for the better part of a decade, with everyone from Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to Alexandre Aja eyed to direct. It seemed that this property was destined to remain dead forever, but it is unsurprising that it is finally happening now. The original Pet Sematary is not considered to be one of the especially popular Stephen King adaptations, but it has its fans and the novel is thought to be one of the author's scariest works. It is also an '80s property, and nostalgia for that decade is popular right now.

Just last year featured two Stephen King theatrical adaptations, the disappointing The Dark Tower and the massive horror hit, IT. Paramount is clearly aiming to duplicate the success of the latter, which is ironic considering the producers of IT were interested in adapting Pet Sematary themselves. There's arguably no better time for a Stephen King adaptation than right now. Horror is having a moment in the past few years with, quality films in the genre being rewarded both critically and commercially. There are plenty of current examples of what taking the genre seriously can do at the box office and come awards season when you do. If Paramount is taking Pet Sematary seriously, and the likely casting of Jason Clarke indicates it is, then there is potential for another great Stephen King film.

Pet Sematary is hardly the only Stephen King adaptation in the works at the moment. IT: Chapter 2 is heating up with some killer casting, and there are plenty of other Stephen King adaptations at various stages of development. Check them out in our Upcoming Stephen King Movies guide. For all the latest movie news and where not to bury people, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

The Terminator franchise has gone through some immense changes over the course of its five installments. Most recently, 2015's Terminator Genisys ended with the promise of more adventures in the newly-rebooted universe, but now it looks like we won't see any further stories in that particular continuity. Having said that, it turns out that there was a plan in place for Genisys 2, and it would've fleshed out cyborg John Connor in far greater detail. Terminator Genisys star Jason Clarke recently opened up about the story and explained:

So if you walked away from Terminator Genisys scratching your head about the fate of Jason Clarke's John Connor, then it sounds like the later installments in the proposed trilogy would've fleshed out that narrative in more detail. Specifically, it looks like the second film would've explained how John became a Terminator-human hybrid. Terminator Genisys ended with Sarah Connor, Kyle Reese and the older-looking T-800 ("Pops") driving off into the sunset to take part in another mission to prevent the rise of Skynet, but the second film would've shifted focus to give us more backstory on the villain's arc.

Expanding that narrative would've been incredibly significant for the future of the series because Terminator Genisys made some incredibly bizarre choices with John Connor. Unlike films like Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Terminator: Salvation, the movie explicitly took the focus off of him and even changed his alignment to make him the villain of the story. It was a bold take on the character, and Jason Clarke seems particularly remorseful for the fact that they never got a chance to see that narrative thread all the way through to the end.

Of course, despite Jason Clarke's recent remarks to Collider about the ill-fated Terminator trilogy, the franchise is preparing to move in a new direction. James Cameron recently decided to return to Terminator in a creative capacity, and a sixth installment is set to hit theaters next year under the direction of Deadpool director Tim Miller. It won't be a continuation of the Genisys storyline, but the war between man and machine will continue to rage on the silver screen.

Stay tuned for more updates related to the Terminator franchise as new information becomes available to us. The next installment in the series is set to debut on July 26, 2019, and you can catch Jason Clarke as Ted Kennedy when Chappaquiddick debuts in theaters this weekend on April 6.

The Planet of the Apes reboot series has done an excellent job with charting the development of Caesar and his ape allies, but with each new installment in this series comes a brand new cast of human characters. This wasn't as much an issue for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes since it can be assumed that most, if not all, of the humans in Rise of the Planet of the Apes died from the virus outbreak. But for War for the Planet of the Apes, there won't be any mention on what happened to Dawn's main human characters. Fortunately, director Matt Reeves has cut fans a break and revealed what happened to Jason Clarke's character, Malcolm: he was killed by Woody Harrelson's Colonel McCullough. When asked if Clarke and Keri Russell's Dawn characters were ever mentioned in a War script, Reeves revealed:

Matt Reeves then started to explain in his interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast why this scene was taken out of War for the Planet of the Apes, but he cut himself off for fear of divulging any spoilers. It's possible this moment might be included as a deleted scene on the War home media release, but if it isn't, at least Planet of the Apes fans know what happened to Malcolm following Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, even though it was a tragic demise.

Malcolm was introduced in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes as one of the leaders of the human colony in San Francisco, and upon meeting Caesar, he tried to build an alliance with the ape leader. However, due to Koba's betrayal and Dreyfus making contact with military forces up north during the ape invasion, the war between humans and apes was officially set off. After bidding goodbye to Caesar, Malcolm left to reunite with his family. Now we know he continued to try to establish peace afterwards, and unfortunately, it cost him his life. We can only hope that Malcolm's wife, Ellie, and son, Alexander, escaped before either The Colonel killed them too or before the bloodshed erupted between the two sides.

You can see War for the Planet of the Apes in theaters now. Be sure to read our review of the movie, and keep checking back with CinemaBlend for news on the future of the Planet of the Apes franchise.

Jake Gyllenhaal was not as widely praised for his boxing drama Southpaw as some predicted, but could Everest be his savior? The film about a group of adventurers fighting to survive the mountain and its dangers recently screened at the Venice Film Festival. The first reviews are in and critics are trying to flush out whether Everest will rise as an early contender of the 2016 Oscar race.

Everest stars Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, Jason Clarke, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley, Robin Wright, and Elizabeth Debicki in a "based on a true story" about a climbing expedition gone wrong on Mt. Everest. Two groups of adventurers converge in an attempt to reach the peak. While the climb up is manageable, the climb back down turns deadly when a snowy storm hits and leaves them all trapped. The film is based on a group of eight climbers who were in this scenario in 1996 and, tragically, they died because of the disaster.

While various reviewers grappled with the film’s merits, many agreed it was a thrilling ride nonetheless. From Variety’s Justin Chang,

Also to keep in mind, for all of you hoping Gyllenhaal would rise to the occasion and save the day, the actor’s role is "surprisingly peripheral and small," according to Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian. He writes,

Based on similar reviews, this seems to be the case with other members of the star-studded cast. According to Eric Kohn of Indiewire, Robin Wright, who plays the on-screen wife of Josh Brolin, "barely lands more than a few minutes of screen time." Though, he writers, "the actors that do find opportunities to capture the sheer anxiety of their situation make them count." He also tweeted,

The overall consensus can be summed up by The Film Stage,

Some cinephiles were hoping last year would be Gyllenhaal's year for an Oscar in light of his performance in Nightcrawler. When he didn't walk home with a statuette (or even a nomination!), we were crossing our fingers for this year. However, with Southpaw failing to stick the landing, coupled with these early Everest reviews, it seems this year isn't for him either. Still, there's still plenty of time before the year's end, and the race is only just beginning.

Everest will hit theaters on September 18.

The party line on Alan Taylor’s Terminator: Genisys always seemed to be that Paramount wanted the latest chapter in the Terminator saga to operate as the start of a fresh trilogy. We have stories dating back to 2014 about sequels being shot back-to-back, structured around this young cast who’d be asked to carry the Terminator torch for a new generation. Will they still get a chance to make that happen?

The numbers this morning aren’t helping the case. Taylor’s Terminator: Genisys opened to $28.7 million over the holiday weekend, and a 5-day haul of $44.1M. IGN reports that this is lowest bow in the franchise’s decades-long history. Genisys couldn’t top either Jurassic World or Inside Out, two films that have been out for weeks now. Though all is not lost, as The Hollywood Reporter notes that the film earned a decent CinemaScore of B+, and picked up steam as the holiday weekend wore on.

The silver lining for Terminator: Genisys appears to be its international draw. Arnold Schwarzenegger, returning to his signature franchise as the T-800, remains a global superstar, and the sequel did much better overseas than it did in North America. THR says Genisys has banked $129.6 million internationally to date, so foreign receipts could save the day in the larger picture of the Terminator franchise.

But is it worth saving? The cast and crew certainly believe so, even as they hedged their bets heading in to opening weekend. While attending a Q-and-A for Terminator: Genisys in New York City, we were able to quote Schwarzenegger as saying that the demand of the fans should dictate whether the story started in Genisys gets to continue. And in a very revealing interview with The Daily Beast, director Alan Taylor admits that he knows his movie has gaping plot holes, and that vital information was intentionally left out so major questions could be answered in subsequent films. Taylor said:

But is that the right way to approach a franchise relaunch? Should you assume that you are going to get a chance to answer lingering questions? Because when Genisys ended, we had a number of issues we wanted to discuss, and now it’s possible that we aren’t going to get a chance to have them answered by the people who know what’s happening in this world.

Do I think Terminator franchise is dead? No. I think that Paramount needs franchises under its belt, and with a younger cast (of Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke and Jai Courtney) under contract, they will spin the weekend’s results in favor of continuing the series somehow. Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore already started laying the foundation for the "This Is A Win" narrative by saying to THR that Terminator: Genisys played "above what people thought we would," and going so far as to call the international numbers for the sequel "spectacular." Whether they believe it or not, that’s likely enough to keep the Terminator sequels – already dated for May 19, 2017 and June 29, 2018 – on the fast track to pre-production.

Warning: Spoilers for Terminator Genisys are in play below. If you have not seen the film yet, please bookmark this page and come back after you've seen the film.

For the entire run of the Terminator franchise, the bedrock of the story has always been the fact that one day, John Connor would rise to rule humanity's resistance against Skynet. He was the ultimate victor in the war against the machines, and the one target Skynet kept sending agents back in time to destroy. Of course, that's all changed now thanks to the new version of Skynet we see in Terminator: Genisys. Thanks to the alternate universe Skynet, colloquially known as "Alex" if you go by the entry on IMDB, John Connor is now the bane to humanity's existence, as he is now partnered with/controlled by Skynet itself. Which raises the ultimate question in the new Terminator franchise: what is John Connor's future in the series?

I was able to speak to Jason Clarke himself last weekend, and even he's not sure how exactly John's story will change from this point. However, Clarke did confirm that he is indeed on contract for the next two Terminator films, so the question of if John Connor is coming back isn't an issue. But even he is in the dark as to how John will feature into the future of Sarah and Kyle's journey in the next two Terminator films (should they come to pass). All we really have to go on is what Clarke said about the future of the character, which includes the following statement:

With the certainty that John will return, and the uncertainty of how he will return, we can at the very least speculate what the future of the new John Connor / T-3000 will lead to. And to be able to do that, we need to focus on the curveballs that Terminator: Genisys throws in the way of the original timeline, most importantly the fact that Sarah Connor is now the implied "savior of humanity." Since the T-1000 and Pops entered the equation in 1973, Sarah has basically fulfilled the role of training to become humanity's protector on this alternate timeline. This basically renders John obsolete, and jeopardizes the actual John's future. Because Sarah and Kyle never "mate," John actually HAS no future.

The "new and improved" John, however, can still exist.

The John Connor we know from the previous Terminator series is dead... at least, for the time being. Without Sarah and Kyle "mating" back in 1984, John now only exists as the robotic killing machine that Skynet created out of him in 2029. What's more, since Skynet survived the attack on San Francisco campus it was born on, it can always rebuild John from scratch and use him for its nefarious purposes. Much like Sarah has become the new savior, John has become the new harbinger of humanity's end on this recalibrated timeline, and through the next two films we'll probably see him act as a nemesis to Sarah. No matter how hardened they become, there's always going to be part of Sarah and Kyle that wishes John never turned out the way he did. That weakness will always be at the heart of Skynet's attempts at world domination, and will exploit for as long as it takes.

Of course, there's always the possibility that, like in the previous Terminator timeline, John Connor may have left behind an arm for the Dysons to revamp their robotics program with. After all, he was reaching out of the time displacement machine as he was being obliterated. Even worse is the fact that when he had his mother captive, John dug into Sarah's skin with his finger. There's a very good chance he left a little something behind that would either convert Sarah into a T-3000 unit, or might allow her to give birth to him once more – whether she wants to or not.

There is no shortage of ways that the Terminator franchise could bring John Connor back from the dead. They've done stranger things before, and continue to do even stranger things today. So don't be surprised if the next couple Terminator films feature a familiar face, because even Jason Clarke knows that there's still material to be mined in the battle between man and machine.

Terminator Genisys is in theaters now.

Warning: Spoilers for Terminator: Genisys are in play. If you’ve been able to avoid the big twist that’s been talked about for some time now, continue to do so and skip this article. Bookmark this spot, and come back after you’ve seen the movie.

Pretty early on, at least early in terms relative to how big of a spoiler it potentially would be for audiences, the revelation that John Connor was actually the villain of Terminator: Genisys was one that was met with a pretty snarktastic reaction. Fans clamored "too soon" no quicker than the rumor had actually dropped, and people were starting to wonder if Terminator: Genisys was going to be worth watching after its revelation. Believe it or not, no one could have taken the twist harder than the man who would be humanity’s savior, and now it’s greatest foe, Jason Clarke.

I was recently granted a moment to chat with the Australian actor, who told me he "stopped, put the script down, and [went] for a walk outside" after realizing the big twist. That wasn't the worst of his reaction though, and what follows is a line of thought that Terminator fans who disapproved of this twist of fate have mirrored themselves. In his own words, here’s Jason Clarke’s initial reaction to the script to Terminator: Genisys:

It’s not easy to accept a twist that big on the first go-round, which is probably why the folks behind the Terminator: Genisys marketing machine decided to advertise that twist right out of the gate. But Clarke took the time to go back to the script, and see things in a different light, just to be sure. Thankfully, the second time around showed Jason Clarke an improved outlook on the role. He was more welcoming of the change in his next read-through, and according to his remarks below, that’s where the real meat of the role lied:

Despite his new role in the Terminator franchise, John Connor is, as Jason Clarke said, very much at the heart of the new trilogy. How and why, though, are to be explored when you see Terminator: Genisys on the big screen. While we won't spoil either just yet, we would urge you to keep your browser dialed here for more with Jason Clarke and the folks behind Terminator: Genisys.

It’s a common complaint these days that there is so much marketing build up to big Hollywood movies that you by the time you finally see the finished product, you feel like you’ve seen the entire thing. Most of us haven’t even laid eyes on Terminator Genisys yet, but if you’ve been paying attention to the glut of trailers, clips, and TV spots, you know they’ve revealed some huge spoilers. According to director Alan Taylor, there is one big reason for that.

Taylor, who also directed Thor: The Dark World, recently talked to Uproxx and made it clear that he’s not a fan of all these twists being revealed in the marketing. He does, however, understand that they’re trying to differentiate their film from what came before and set it apart. He said:

If you’ve been keeping away from Terminator Genisys spoilers up to this point, good for you, that’s no easy task, but you may want to move on now, as we’re going to hit on them beyond this point.

The biggest reveal has obviously been that this iteration of John Connor, the savior of mankind, played by franchise newcomer Jason Clarke, is himself a machine. Or at least he becomes a machine, or is a machine disguised to look like John Connor. We’re not exactly sure how it plays out (at least there will be some surprises left), but we do know that someone or something we and the characters have been led to believe is John Connor is in fact a new generation of Terminator.

That’s a pretty big deal. For a time, a lot of people thought that since it has been all over the marketing campaign, this is something that happens early on. That is still entirely possible, and it sounds like there are some other reveals that have been kept under wraps, but to hear Taylor talk, that isn’t something he expected, or wanted, to be public knowledge going into his movie. He said:

There are still some big questions that remain to be answered about Terminator Genisys, like the nature of Matt Smith’s (Doctor Who) character, how the new film rewrites and interacts with the existing timeline, and what era, or eras, the bulk of the action takes place in. So we don’t quite know everything, but we’ll surely find out when the film opens this Wednesday, July 1.

The first two Terminator films are widely regarded as some of the most badass, user-friendly and all-around beloved sci-fi movies in the history of the genre. The last two entries are a bit more polarizing among fans and critics alike, but with years since the last entry and a whole host of new stars joining the franchise, the excitement is building for round 5!

Next month, the upcoming Terminator Genisys will arrive to offer both an intriguing new storyline and a larger wrinkle that will quite literally rewrite a portion of the franchise’s timeline. From what little we know about the plot and story, there is a lot going on, and with that in mind, we’ve put together a handy guide of information that you need to know heading into Terminator Genisys.

The Characters You Need To Know

If you’re familiar with the franchise, especially the first two chapters, you’re already acquainted with the primary players. Granted, with the exception of Arnold Schwarzenegger, once again playing a mechanical killing machine from the future——these old characters are all played by new actors. Though they’ll look different, you will likely have at least a rough understanding of who they are and their personalities.

Terminator/ Guardian/ Pops

Above all else, Genisys is perhaps most notable, because it marks the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger to the franchise he helped launch back in 1984. We first saw him as a time travelling robot assassin in Terminator and he then took a more protective role in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, serving to keep John Connor safe from an even more advanced threat. Though we don’t have all the specifics, we know that he will serve a similar function in this film. A version of the T-800 has been sent back in time, once again as a protector, to watch over Sarah Connor from the time she was a child. We also learned that he is known as Guardian, and she calls him Pop, at least once in the film.

Sarah Connor

After Arnold, Sarah Connor is the true icon of the franchise. Hell, she even had an awesome TV series named after her (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles). In Genisys, Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke takes over the role made famous by Linda Hamilton (and also played by Clarke’s GoT costar Lena Heady on the small screen). When we first meet Sarah in 1984, she’s a frightened waitress, confused by why this hulking punker in bitching shades wants to kill her, and overwhelmed by the knowledge that she’s going to birth the last hope of humanity. By the time we see her again in the second film, however, she has become one of cinema’s greatest badasses, male or female. What we’ve seen of Clarke’s Sarah makes her look damn tough, but she certainly has some sizeable shoes to fill.

Kyle Reese

Time-hopping baby daddy/Sarah Connor watch dog, Kyle Reese, shows up from time to time throughout the franchise, but was most notably played by Michael Biehn in Terminator, which is where he had the biggest role. Not only did he arrive in 1984 in the nude, he was also tasked with protecting Sarah, and, unbeknownst to him, would become the father of the father of the human resistance to Skynet. Aussie Jai Courtney takes over the role in Genisys, and with the altered timeline, he still shows up in 1984, but the Sarah he finds is in need of significantly less protecting than he expected. But don’t shed too many tears for Kyle Reese, there are new threats to contend with that will give him ample opportunity to show off his action chops and impress his future sex partner.

John Connor

John Connor is the reason for all of this time travelling ruckus, but we don’t even meet him until the second movie when young Edward Furlong brought the savior of the human race to life in the guise of a pint-sized hooligan in Judgment Day. He’s subsequently been played by Christian Bale in Salvation, and Thomas Dekker in Chronicles, but it’s angsty teen, John, we know the best. Jason Clarke takes over the mantle of full-grown-man, leader-of-the-resistance John, but as we’ve seen in trailers for Genisys, there are some interesting new developments. In this iteration, John Connor, leader of the forces opposing the machine takeover, is himself a machine. We don’t know how or why—and we hope that it’s an early reveal—but we’re super curious to find out.

T-1000

As if Arnold Schwarzenegger’s leather-clad, Gargoyle-wearing killer robot from the future wasn’t enough of a hazard, Terminator 2: Judgment Day—not to be confused with Judgment Night, which is a totally different thing—introduced us to the shape-shifting upgrade, the T-1000. Made from cool looking liquid metal that gave the nefarious creation the ability to transform into anyone or anything, , handsome South Korean actor Lee Byung-hun, takes over the part of the relentless hunter. From everything we’ve seen, he remains a similarly formidable adversary.

Miles Dyson

You know you’re kind of a failure when something you create goes on to doom the whole of the human race. That’s the situation Miles Dyson finds himself in. He didn’t mean for Skynet to become self-aware and destroy civilization, but that didn’t stop it from happening. Or at least it will happen. Courtney B. Vance takes over the role of creator of the neural-net processor, which led to the creation of Skynet, the automated defense system that became self-aware and decided the human race was a threat. Joe Morton was the first to play this part in Judgment Day, and we’ll have to wait and see how big a role the character plays in Genisys.

Danny Dyson

Danny Dyson is, you guessed it, related to Miles Dyson. He’s the son who we briefly meet in Judgment Day as Sarah, John, and Arnold terrorize the family, but about all he has to do is look worried in that scene. He shows up in Genisys, however, played by Dayo Okeniyi, who you may remember as Thresh in The Hunger Games. The biggest difference with this Danny is that he’s older, at least a teenager, but given when the new film is set, it’s unclear if a timeline has been altered or he’s older than he looks or what. That’s likely something the film will explain.

Tim/ Matt Smith

We don’t know much about the role of former Doctor Who star Matt Smith. His character is listed on IMDb as "Tim," and there have been rumblings that he could be a villain, perhaps even a personification of Skynet. IMDb does list Skynet as a character, and from the picture, a kid who looks an awful lot like a young Matt Smith plays the part. But we’ve also seen images of Smith decked out in garb similar to what Kyle Reese and John Connor wear, though he has been noticeably absent in the footage released. What this means, we’re not sure, and this is all supposition and conjecture, but perhaps he, Tim, turns out to be one of this new breed of being (not quite man, not quite machine), like we’ve seen from John in the trailers.

Detective O'Brien

Out of all the characters, at least the ones who appear to be important. Detective O’Brien may be the one we know the least about. We know he is a detective, we know his name is O’Brien, we know he hasn’t appeared anywhere else in the franchise, and we know the Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons plays the part. To be honest, that last bit is all that really matters. Simmons is fantastic in every role he takes, and we will watch him do anything, and enjoy it, even those insurance commercials. What we’ve seen from him in the previews for Genisys shows that he’s easily flustered by what he encounters—admit it, you would be, too, even just meeting Arnold Schwarzenegger would send most of us into a tizzy, let alone killer-robot-Arnold-Schwarzenegger-from-the-future. It also appears that he aids our heroes in some way in their quest to save the world, which is way cool of him.

The Backstory You Need To Know

Since the beginning we’ve been told that Terminator Genisys intended to go back and revisit key moments in the history of the Terminator franchise, and what Paramount Pictures has released, marketing wise, backs this up. But while they revisit important incidents, they play out drastically different in the new film. So far we’ve seen two prime examples of this revisionist history in the trailers.

First is the scene from Terminator when Schwarzenegger’s T-800 first arrives back in 1984. In the original, he kills a bunch of punks, including a young Bill Paxton, and steals their clothes. I bet they smell wonderful. As we all know too well, the main drawback of travelling through time is that you can’t take anything with you and you arrive wherever you’re headed with nothing but a smile and a your birthday suit.

In Genisys, however, things don’t go down quite the same. Before the murderous visitor from the future can off a bunch of wayward youth, Old Arnold shows up on the scene with a 12-guage, loaded for bear. There have been rumors that what follows is an epic, knock down, drag out kind of affair, though we have yet to see much to back that up. Still, we can’t wait to see an Arnold vs. Arnold throw down. That’s one for the history books.

We know this happens first because of the second incident of rewriting history we’ve witnessed. Like in James Cameron’s original film, Kyle Reese shows up in 1984, also nude, breaks into a sporting goods store, and scores some sweet kicks, artillery, and a shady trench coat. Unfortunately, he’s not alone, and Lee Byung-hun’s new T-1000 is also on the scene, disguised as a cop. Lucky for Reese, however, Sarah knows he’s coming and barrels through the store in an armored truck, pulling his ass out of the fire for what is likely not the last time.

This is not the Sarah that Reese expected to find. He anticipated a meek, frightened young woman confused by all of these tales of men and machines from a ruined future. She is certainly none of those things. And we know this happens after the first incident because, as they make their getaway, we’ve seen footage of the older Terminator in the back of their getaway vehicle next to the lifeless corpse of the 1984 T-800.

All of these changes are the result of continual tinkering with the past. The timeline is no longer a static straight line. When the machines first sent an agent back to kill Sarah, ensuring that John would never exist, that action caused an endless ripple effect. Sure, they didn’t succeed the first time, but it’s a sound theory, and they have obviously made subsequent attempts. And the more they go back and alter, even if John Connor never dies, the more things change down the line.

What this really does is muddy the waters, time wise. This is a tangled mess of timelines and causality running in an endless loop. For instance, we learned in Judgment Day that without the remains of the original T-800, Dyson wouldn’t have originally been able to create the neural-net processor, hence no Skynet. But even after they destroy it, to paraphrase Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park, life found a way. "No fate but what we make for ourselves" is a common refrain, but you can’t help but think there is a certain level of inevitability, of destiny in play, like how John sends his own father back in time to impregnate his mother, creating a paradox.

With all of these changes, Genisys really serves as a soft reboot of the Terminator franchise. It exists in this familiar world and makes use of your already extant knowledge of what they’ve set up over four previous movies, but they can make alterations where they need or want to.

While we’ve had clues about what this new world will look like, the bulk of it remains up in the air. Just in the build up, we’ve seen evidence of three distinct times. There’s the future, where humanity battles the machine menace; there’s 1984, where Kyle, Sarah, and Pops battle their mechanical enemies; and we’ve seen footage of young Sarah being rescued by her Guardian.

In addition to these times, there are indications of even more. There were rumors floating around that we could revisit events from Judgment Day, which could be where Dyson comes into the narrative again. We see them in Los Angeles, but also the San Francisco Bay Area, which has always been a hub of technological innovation. It’s possible this is also 1984, but perhaps it is a different era. And if you examine the IMDb credits closely—admittedly, this isn’t always the most reliable information, but it’s a start—there are listings for young Kyle Reese and young Detective O’Brien, which indicate at least two additional time frames.

We don’t know the extent of the time hopping that we will see onscreen on July 1, 2015. We don’t know when or where or who, but one thing is clear, Terminator Genisys is going to have its hands full keeping all of the timelines, plot threads, and cause and effect straight. It’s a really complicated world, but it’s one the franchise has had quite a bit of success playing in.

What We Know About Genisys

Obviously, the biggest thing we know about Terminator Genisys is that it rewrites the timeline. The core of the story involves characters we are already familiar with and care about, but it will present them in a new light, potentially even in drastically different manners. We’ve seen Sarah as a badass, but not for the same reasons; we’ve seen the T-800 as a protector, but not like this; and we’ve seen Kyle Reese travel back in time, but now his mission takes a sharp left turn.

The basic premise of the story is the same: John Connor sends Kyle Reese back in time to protect his mother, Sarah Connor, from a machine sent back to kill her and ensure he is never born. From that familiar logline, however, everything gets thrown for a loop. The 1984 Kyle visits is not the same 1984 from the first movie. Rescued by the Pops T-800 as a young child, Sarah Connor has been raised in relative isolation, and while she’s handy with weapons, she’s not as good with human interaction. Living with an unfeeling machine your whole life will do that do you. In earlier movies, like Judgment Day, her actions are to save the life of her son, to teach him the skills he’ll need to fulfill his destiny, whereas this time her focus appears to be on stopping the apocalypse. That certainly plays into her arc in T2, but her main driving force is John.

There are new Terminators to contend with, the causal string of events has been tugged so familiar events play out differently, and there are as yet unknown threats to contend with. For everything we do know about Genisys, there is even more that we don’t.

We’re going to visit eras that the franchise has already been to, that much is clear, but we are also going to new times. Even if it’s just a quick flashback, we’ll get a view of Sarah Connor’s childhood and see at least a few of the pieces that go into making her the woman we meet later; 1984 will play a key role in the action; and as we’ve seen in trailers and TV spots, we’ll spend some time in the future as well.

But are likely to be more. We’ve heard reports that we’ll revisit moments from Judgment Day, which takes place in 1995. As far as we know, we haven’t seen this in any of the marketing. There’s also the older version of Danny Dyson to consider. As he was born in the late 1980s, and is being played by a 26-year-old actor, though admittedly a young-faced one, that puts the action at least in the 2000s, if not later. And if you examine those scenes on the Golden Gate Bridge in the footage that’s been released, those cars look to be relatively current (someone who knows more about cars could probably identify make, model, and year). We could hop between a number of different times before the credits roll.

One of the hot topics of discussion in recent days has been a big twist revealed in the marketing. Because of the trailers and what not, we know that John Connor, at some point, becomes a machine. Or a machine mimics him. Or he’s something in between a man and machine. What exactly is going on isn’t entirely clear, but there is something massive in play. He also appears to travel back in time, as new John Connor definitely encounters new Sarah Connor.

Okay, so we know he’s a robot, or whatever, but this leads to even more questions. How does John become a robot? Is it his choice or is he somehow captured, forced, or otherwise coerced into it? Does he have some kind of endgame in mind? Is it even John? We get the impression that it is, but we can’t be sure. Is this new being simply some kind of shape shifter? Between Terminator and T2, there were obviously huge leaps in cyborg technology, so perhaps this new creation is simply another step forward in the continuing machine evolution. Again, there appears to it than that, but we can’t be sure at this stage.

You also have to wonder if this is as big a deal as people assume. Robot John Connor showing up in the trailers isn’t an accident, no one made a mistake, and no one skulked into the editing bay and added the footage last minute before it hit the air. If this is the big twist, that John is a machine, that’s like The Sixth Sense making a trailer that says Bruce Willis is a dead, which is just not going to happen.

So if this is what they’re willing to give away up front, you have to wonder what they’re keeping in reserve? The film should pack a punch, and if you have all of the aforementioned information down, you should really enjoy yourself.

The above article was sponsored by Paramount. Check out the new Terminator when it hits theaters.

For as much as we’ve been shown from the upcoming Terminator Genisys, there is still a lot of mystery surrounding the latest installment of the time-hopping franchise. Chief among these questions are those about the true nature of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 and John Connor (Jason Clarke), whatever the hell he becomes, and how they relate. Now the former governor himself has given us some clarity.

Just a heads up, there are some major SPOILERS beyond this point. Beware.

Hyping up the movie, Schwarzenegger recently sat down with IGN, and when asked about the relationship between his Terminator and John Connor, the action icon said:

John, of course, coming from a future where the machines have taken over and are trying to wipe out the human race, doesn’t trust the Terminators, thinking they’re just there to infiltrate and eliminate humanity. He doesn’t realize that Arnie has been programed to protect humanity, especially Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke). Known as Guardian, the T-800 has been looking after her since she was a young child in this rewritten timeline, and the relationship she has with the robot doesn’t sit well with her son and leads to jealousy. Schwarzenegger does say, however, that the two ultimately put aside their differences and "become partners."

Schwarzenegger’s statement calls into question some things we thought we knew about Terminator Genisys. In the trailers we’ve seen that John himself has become some kind of new machine, what looks like the next evolutionary step of the Terminators. This automatically makes him come across as the bad guy, and flipping a bus with his mother and father inside is certainly a dick move, but perhaps that’s not the whole story. Perhaps what we see is some kind of imposter, like a machine that can disguise itself as anyone. We’ve definitely encountered that before. It’s going to be interesting to see how this conflict comes into play and to discover John’s true role in the story.

Like with much of what we’ve seen from Genisys, this feels like, not necessarily a misdirect, but far from the whole story—and we haven’t even seen Doctor Who star Matt Smith’s character pop up in any of the footage yet, so who the hell knows what his role will be? We keep getting bits and pieces that don’t fit together in any clear way, and even as we draw closer to the release, the larger mystery remains intact. Considering how much marketing has been released, that’s actually impressive.

Lucky for us, however, we don’t have to wait much longer to find out exactly what the hell is going on in Terminator Genisys since it opens everywhere in just a few weeks on July 1.

In just a few weeks, when Terminator Genisys hits theaters, it’s bringing a ton of action along for the ride. One of the big, exciting scenes that we’ve seen in the trailers and TV spots involves that school bus flipping over on the Golden Gate Bridge, and a new clip gives us our best look yet at this moment.

Just a warning, there’s a rather large reveal about the antagonist of the film in this footage, so if you’re trying to avoid spoilers, you might want to sit this one out.

We’ve seen bits and pieces of the bus scene, usually intercut wither other action, but this clip from Paramount UK gives us a more complete view of this particular incident. As you can see, the brakes are gone, the cops are after the heroes, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800, Guardian, is trying to catch up to Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney), and they have something else to contend with.

If you’ve been paying attention to the promotion, it is no surprise that the bus flips forward a couple of times. While we’re not entirely sure of the physics involved, it’s still an impressive feat (it should be pretty damn fun to see on an IMAX screen), and now we know how just how this goes down. John Connor (Jason Clarke), or at least a version of the character that was once the savior of mankind, clings to the bottom of the bus and essentially pole-vaults the massive vehicle into the air. Bet you never thought you’d see that.

This also reaffirms what many already assumed, that John Connor is not a good guy in Genisys. Or at least this John Connor isn’t, as we know is some kind of new breed of machine, not quite mechanical, but not exactly human either. At this point we don’t know if this is the real John Connor, or simply a facsimile cooked up by Skynet, but either way, when the visage of your son/bro from the future is trying to kill you, that’s bound to bring up a glut of rather strong conflicting emotions.

Terminator Genisys takes place in multiple times, including the future, 1984, and even further back, when Sarah Connor is a child and Schwarzenegger’s T-800, who she calls Pops, rescues her. While we suspected there was at least a stopover in the present day—the cars in the scene on the bridge look more or less contemporary—Dayo Okeniyi, who plays Danny Dyson, son of the Cyberdyne CEO, confirmed that at least part of the action is set in the here and now. We’re not sure exactly how that comes about, or how much time we’re talking about, but it is one of the many questions we have that will be answered when Terminator Genisys opens on July 1.

The Everest trailer is "another beast all together." Cut together with that haunting, high-pitched piano pluck and foreboding words, the footage features a cast that includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin and Jason Clarke as they make their way up to the tippy top of the world's most famous mountain, only to get knocked back down in a horrific storm. Watch the first trailer below.

This is one of the rare exceptions when "let it go" is not the best advice. If these guys do, then they'll fall to their deaths.

Everest is the story of an expedition heading up to the infamous mountain. Fortunately, they make it to the top. Unfortunately, they're bombarded by a severe storm that threatens to trap them in this icy tundra forever. Clarke plays Rob Hall, the expedition's guide. With Keira Knightly acting as his wife who calls in to provide emotional support, Rob must drum up the courage to get him and his comrades back down safety. The film, directed by Baltasar Kormákur, is based on a true story of summiters making the trek in 1996. All eight never came back down. Their story also serves as the basis for the book by Jon Krakauer called Into Thin Air. The footage alone is enough to chill you to the bone.

Kormákur and his cast shot the film on location in the Italian Alps and Nepal. He recalled to PEOPLE magazine that they had to transport their equipment on the backs of donkeys...in January...in a 35 degrees below climate. He said everyone had to be on "nose watch" to make sure no one lost their appendage to frostbite. For Clarke, though, this was one of the best times of his life. He told the publication that he wanted "the adventure, the adversity and friendships" that shooting something of this scale would offer. And he got it.

Clarke has been popping up here and there with supporting roles in films like White House Down and The Great Gatsby, but he has since stepped up his game. He had a starring role in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and he'll appear alongside Emilia Clarke and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the new Terminator movie. Though, Everest will allow him to further flex his dramatic and leading-man chops.

Everest is scheduled to hit theaters on September 18.

Warning: Spoilers for Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes and Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes are in play. If you haven’t seen either film, bookmark this page and come back when you’re up to date. By the end of Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, ape leader Caesar (Andy Serkis) and human leader Malcolm (Jason Clarke) had remained friends but sadly had to part company, anyway. The reason being that the events involving Koba’s sabotage and Dreyfus’ (Gary Oldman) call for back up had basically locked humanity into the long, hard struggle that would eventually see the Planet Of The Apes come to historical fruition. While we’re not going to get to that point just yet, we do have an idea where things are going, as the new title for the 2017 sequel has been revealed. You’ve seen the Rise and survived the Dawn… now it’s time to prepare for the War Of The Planet Of The Apes.

Collider broke the exclusive tidbit this afternoon, as a source of theirs has reported that the title to the untitled Planet Of The Apes sequel has decided to beat the drums of war. The scoop also provides a great refresher on why this title makes sense on a surface level, as Caesar’s last lines were confirming that "Apes start war… and Human will not forgive." It looks like director Matt Reeves and company weren’t only setting us up for a really effective ending with that line, but they were foreshadowing the fact that they’re ready to go all out in the next film.

On one hand, this is a great title! Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes altered its ending to allow for breathing room in the plot of the series’ future trajectory, so instead of the original ending -- which would have seen warships arriving in San Francisco -- we instead saw Caesar surrounded by the love and respect of his people. Our protagonist had turned from an unlikely figure of power to a reluctant figure of war. War has been a long time coming in the world of the Apes, and with the aid of one of last year’s greatest action sequences, audiences should be stoked for the War Of The Planet Of The Apes

Of course, there’s a slight downside to the next film being titled as such. While War Of The Planet Of The Apes is a grabbing title, and promises a lot of mayhem involving primates of all shapes and sizes, it puts a little added pressure on the story. Depending on how far of a jump in time there is between Dawn and War Of The Planet Of The Apes, the direct mention of war in the title promises a lot of forward action for the ape civilization. This goes against Matt Reeves’ storytelling approach of a slow, eventual arrival to the world we know from the original Planet Of The Apes. But most important, it doesn’t spell a good end for Caesar.

Both Caesar and Malcolm could try to push for peace within their time, as neither of them really wants a conflict. Just because Caesar acknowledged the coming storm doesn’t mean he wants to get wet when it all comes down. Having already survived one attack by a compatriot who felt that humanity needed to go, it’s only a matter of time before another challenger tries to usurp the throne. It’s not personal, it’s just the way nature goes. Of course, there’s plenty of time for speculation and guesswork, as the film isn’t scheduled to be released until 2017; but for now we’ve got a pretty awesome title to build a ton of high expectations and fan art off of.

War Of The Planet Of The Apes gears up for conflict on July 14, 2017; and our fingers are crossed that at least one more tie in book will fill in some of the gaps that will undoubtedly be present between the present and future installment.

While there’s certainly no shortage of dramas set during the Second World War, the upcoming thriller HHHH looks to break the mold in a genre that’s had more than its share of entries. Reportedly taking a nuanced, character-centric approach, the film features an impressive cast, looking to bring this historic tale of an elaborate assassination mission to the big screen.

According to a report from Variety, the biographical World War II drama, HHHH, based on the novel of the same name by Laurent Binet, will see the addition of a primary cast that mixes established commodities along with up-coming names that already makes the film sound promising. Let’s take a look at the lineup.

Jason Clarke as "Reinhard Heydrich"

The rapid, post-Zero Dark Thirty rise of Clarke, which yielded a starring role in last year’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and will see a major big-budget action role in this summer’s Terminator: Genisys, will take an intriguing turn with HHHH. Clarke plays Heydrich, a high ranking Nazi official who worked closely with the architect of atrocities, Heinrich Himmler, and is actually the film's titular character. The title references an acronym for what Germans called him, "Himmlers Hirn heisst Heydrich," meaning "Himmler’s brain is called Heydrich."

The first chapter of the film essentially depicts Clarke’s Heydrich as a protagonist, focusing on his rise to prominence in the Nazi party in a way that producer Alain Goldman refers to as "intimately and professionally" as he descends to a dark place.

Rosamund Pike as "Lina Heydrich"

Settling comfortably into what seems to be a post-Gone Girl typecasting as a manipulative maker of machinations, Pike plays Lina Heydrich, Reinhard’s wife. She is described as an aristocratic type of character, constantly looking to improve their social standing, who, like a race-obsessed Lady Macbeth, apparently introduces the Nazi ideology to Reinhard, setting him on his repugnant course depicted in the film’s second half.

Jack O’Connell as "Jan Kubis" and Jack Reynor as "Josef Gabcik"

In exploring a duality in human nature with Heydrich’s story, the focus shifts in the second chapter of the film to two operatives of the Czechoslovakian resistance who are tasked with assassinating him in 1942. O’Connell (pictured left), formerly of U.K. TV’s Skins, turned some heads with his role in last year’s World War II Pacific theater prisoner drama, Unbroken, as well as '71.

Reynor (pictured right) is coming off a prominent role amongst giant robots and explosions in last year’s Transformers: Age of Extinction. For the Colorado native, this role as Gabcik will see him, along with the Brit, O'Connell, as two would-be Slovak paratrooper assassins tasked with making Heydrich their quarry in what potentially could be exciting, action-packed sequences.

Mia Wasikowska as "Czech Resistance Fighter"

Finally, we have the addition of Wasikowska, the elegant actress probably still best known from her starring turn in Tim Burton’s 2010 rendition of Alice in Wonderland. She plays a yet-to-be-named girl living in Nazi-occupied Prague who operates as part of the resistance on behalf of the country’s driven-underground government. Most likely she will be involved with the dynamic duo of O'Connell and Reynor.

HHHH is co-written and will be helmed by Cédric Jimenez, whose resume contains a few films in France, but is a bit otherwise thin at the moment. However, with filming set to begin in Prague and Budapest in August, with this tremendous cast and a seemingly inventive take on the WWII genre, it could ultimately be a name-making vehicle for Jimenez.

Terminator Genisys laid down a whopper of a plot point in its last trailer. In fact, it’s so big that many people consider it a huge spoiler. If you’re one of those people, then you’re going to hate what we’re about to show you. Everyone else, you just might dig this new poster for Terminator Genisys.

Yahoo shared the newest look at the machine promoting the machines of Terminator Genisys, and it actually looks pretty awesome. The look is definitely more in line with the retro "faces and explosions on the poster" marketing model that most films either replicate or try to avoid these days, but in the case of the latest Terminator film, the more retro vibes it emits, the more convinced we’ll be that it can handle a trip back to the franchise's beginnings. But just as we were getting used to the retro "feel trip" this poster gave us, the elephant in the room sat down and ordered a cocktail. We’ve put it off long enough, but we now have to talk about that big honkin’ spoiler.

Front and center, in the midst of Emilia Clarke looking like a badass, Jai Courtney looking like he might make up for his participation in The Divergent Series, and Arnold Schwarzenegger looking like we just might get another solid Terminator flick out of him, we get… the twist. Jason Clarke’s John Connor is revealed once again as a robot, only it’s not in a trailer you can conveniently avoid… it’s right bloody there for anyone in the theater lobby to see. On one hand, this could be made into a huge case of overplaying your hand before the cards are all on the table. The marketing department can always backpedal from a trailer showing John get blown apart and reconstructing himself with nanobots, but a poster? That’s in front of anyone who walks by, whether they like it or not. Until they institute spoiler shields in theatrical light boxes, where you press a button to see that spoiler right there and then, this is definitely going to ruffle some feathers.

Of course, another way of looking at it is the fact that maybe, just maybe, there’s a bigger twist. Considering the marketing team behind Terminator Genisys understands just how big of a deal this spoiler would be, you’d think they’d save it for the film’s deployment. Which begs that we ask the question, is this really the biggest spoiler the film has to offer? Keep in mind, there’s still another, even bigger rumor out there about who pops up in the events of director Alan Taylor’s Terminator debut. The point still remains that, with this knowledge willfully released by the marketing folks, this film want us to know John Connor is a machine/human hybrid of some sort. What purpose, other than getting asses in seats, does this reveal serve?

We’ll be able to better answer this, and a multitude of other questions, when we get to finally feast our eyes upon Terminator Genisys, as it takes it first bow on July 1st.

The release of a brand-spanking new trailer for Terminator: Genisys earlier today completely rejigged what we can expect from the blockbuster, especially when it comes to former franchise hero John Connor. That’s because the new version of the character isn’t quite as heroic as we all probably expected him to be - and now Jason Clarke has confirmed that he’s part machine, part human, and that this movie’s version of the resistance fighter is free in all the ways that previous incarnations have not been.

Jason Clarke, who will be portraying John Connor in Terminator: Genisys, sat down to speak with Entertainment Weekly recently to provide further insight about his character, and in the process pretty much confirmed that he will defy expectations. Basically, the guy is a total wild card. The Australian actor explained,

Jason Clarke also detailed some of the rules that he devised and enforced for portraying John Connor as a machine, explaining that when he gets shot he still feels the pain. He made sure to note that throughout his performance in Terminator Genisys Connor is still learning the benefits of being part machine, and that he is "still experiencing it, still harnessing it, and learning how to dictate it." Meanwhile, Clarke admitted that his version is a much freer John, since he isn’t weighed down with the burden of being the saviour of mankind.

Those of you who haven’t yet viewed the latest trailer for Terminator: Genisys can correct that wrong by taking a gander at it below, as well as gain a better understanding of exactly what it is that Jason Clarke is talking about.

I’m going to put it out there and say that the latest trailer for Terminator: Genisys has rejuvenated my interest in the blockbuster. Yes, the revelation that John Connor is half-man half-machine probably could have been reserved for when it hit cinemas, and there’s a good chance that the film’s most exhilarating action set-pieces have already been showcased, but the new dynamic that this will bring to the blockbuster should help to set it apart from both its illustrious predecessors (The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and the less than impressive instalments to the franchise (Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines and Terminator: Salvation).

I’m still not sure which camp Terminator: Genisys will ultimately fall into, and with its July 1, 2015 release date only a few weeks away we don’t have long to wait until I find out.

"I’m not machine. I’m not man. I’m… more." With these chilling words, the latest full trailer for Alan Taylor’s Terminator Genisys finally tipped its hand to the actual villain of the upcoming summer blockbuster sequel, and it’s… well, watch the clip, and then we’ll discuss.

Yep, Paramount now seems OK with letting fans know that John Connor (played by Jason Clarke in this version of the Terminator timeline) will be the one causing all sorts of problems for his mother, Sarah (Emilia Clarke), his best friend, Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) and, of course, the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who promised he’d be back. Up until this point, the footage shown to Terminator fans suggested a literal retelling of the traditional story, with John sending Kyle back in time to protect his mother. There were hints at changes to the story we knew… but none dropped with quite an impact as this new reveal.

The trailer arrived at the end of a social media push using the hashtag #TerminatorUnlock, where cast members like Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed cool pics from the new trailer, like the T-800 in distress:

And a spoilery tease of what we now know is John Connor’s hand in mid-transformation:

You might think this trailer gives away too much, that we now know who the main threat is in Terminator Genisys that the studio showed all of its cards. Not the case. There’s at least one more massive reveal I’m pretty sure awaits fans in Genisys. And if this movie is destined to trigger two more chapters in a new Terminator trilogy, then I expect several more layers to peel back between now and July.

Terminator Genisys attempts to rewrite the timeline by sending Kyle Reese back to a new era. It promises a battle between old Arnold and a CGI "old" Arnold. That alone should get you into a theater on July 1.

Terminator: Genisys packed a number of unanswered questions leading up to its eventual release. With no clear-cut sequel happening right before it, we didn’t know where, exactly, the story would take up on the timeline. And with the addition of so many new faces, we didn’t know how classic characters from previous installments – from Sarah Connor to the T-800 – would be used.

Well, Paramount dropped the first trailer on us today, and it quietly answered a number of key questions while also clarifying – slightly – the movie’s convoluted narrative. Do yourself a favor. Watch the trailer one more time.

Then devour these 15 important facts we pulled from the footage screened today! Starting, of course, with:

We'll Get To See Kyle Reese Volunteer for his initial mission

This is interesting. In the first Terminator film, Kyle Reese reveals to Sarah Connor that he volunteered to go back through time to protect Sarah. Of course, Kyle ends up impregnating Sarah, leading to birth of John. Heavy. But this trailer reveals that we'll get to see Kyle volunteer to do the mission. "Sir. Let me save her." It's a big moment for the story.

We will see Skynet launch. Again.

It does feel, to a certain extent, that the trailer for Terminator: Genisys is touching on familiar beats from the previous films. We see Kyle actually traveling back in time, and we’ll get to the Arnold flashbacks in a second. But this screengrab suggests that, just as in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, we will see the deadly Skynet program launch again. The machines are winning!

Some version of the Terminator gets to Sarah at a young age

This, however, is very new – and spins the Terminator myth on its head. From what we knew, Sarah Connor’s first interaction with a Terminator occurred, roughly, in her 30s. She was hunted by one, and eventually became a hunter in subsequent sequels. But here, we see young Sarah Connor being carried by what looks to be the back of Arnold Schwarzenegger. A T-800 gets to pint-sized Sarah? That confirms what we had been hearing.

Los Angeles has been destroyed

This probably goes along with the launching of Skynet, but the trailer opens with devastating looks at scorched earth that reveals the Hollywood sign on repeat viewings. Judgment Day, it seems, has arrived on this timeline.

John Connor has taken a beating in the future wars

It’s unclear how much of Jason Clarke we’ll get in this installment. He’ll be a big part of the opening scenes, I imagine, where we see the toll this future war has taken on the leader. But after he sends Kyle back in time, this movie likely will belong to Sarah Connor, the Terminator and Kyle Reese. John likely will return for the already announced sequels. Speaking of Sarah…

Sarah Connor is more ‘Judgment Day’ than ‘The Terminator’

I guess when you cast Emilia Clarke, you are hoping to get more of a Grrrrrrrrr-lie girl action hero, the kind of character Linda Hamilton went on to play in T2: Judgment Day. And based on the above shot, I think it’s safe to assume that’s the tone Ms. Clarke dialed into during the shoot.

Somehow, Arnold kills … Arnold?

We have been hearing that the timeline will be altered in Terminator: Genisys, stopping specifically on the scene at Griffith Observatory when the T-800 first shows up in our era. Well, it happens. Only this time, a different Arnold is waiting. With a shotgun. "I’ve been waiting for you." Killer line.

That new police officer possesses the liquefied tricks of the T-1000

This is yet another throwback to Judgment Day, and we’ll later see the predatory cop transforming fully with full-body liquid metal. But this shot looks EXACTLY like Robert Patrick’s nearly unstoppable T-1000 from Cameron’s incredible Judgment Day, and I’m sure that’s not accidental.

Sarah might have her own teleportation device

Right after she triggers a switch in the trailer, we see this glowing ball of light, which looks like a makeshift time-traveling device, located in a warehouse. A smaller version of the one John uses to send Kyle back. Could the son somehow have also sent schematics back to his mom, so she could move around the timeline with ease?

Stopping Judgment Day remains the chief plot point

Because if it hasn’t been broken in the previous four films, why fix it now?

Someone who LOOKS like Arnold on a motorcycle is chasing Sarah’s schoolbus

It’s more the SOUND of the motorcycle engine that calls to mind, instantly, the fantastic motorcycle chase Cameron stages in Judgment Day. There’s no reason to believe that Arnold would be chasing Sarah Connor on a motorcycle. Heck, it MIGHT be that cop from the earlier screen grab. But I think the back of this menacing character looks like it might be the T-800, and that audio cue really tipped me off.

Oh yeah, the action will shift to San Francisco

Despite the fact that Kyle Reese clearly transports to Los Angeles, and we get the Griffith Observatory scene, the action in the trailer showcases San Fran, and its Golden Gate Bridge. I’m not entirely sure why. Because it worked really well for the Planet of the Apes series?

We'll get to see Kyle Reese's naked exit from the future.

In Terminator, Kyle Reese explains that when it comes to time traveling, "you go naked." The trailer reveals that this is literally the case, as opposed to stepping into the time travel machine clothed and ending up naked at some point through the process. Genisys spends time with a naked Jai Courtney – giving an awkward, naked bro shake to Jason Clarke – before traveling back in time in this new trailer.

Finally, Terminator really ages, has white hair…

It has been discussed that the T-800 will be able to age in this movie, and the trailer provides visual proof. Arnold, right before delivering his signature line, gets to Da Choppa! and has his white locks blowing in the breeze. It’s a cool image – almost as cool as him nose-diving through a helicopter blade. Wait, is that the end of the movie?

… but Matt Smith was completely absent

His character’s supposed to be a well-kept secret. They must be keeping it for a little bit longer, because the good Doctor Who wasn’t even in this trailer (unless I blinked and missed him). There’s plenty of time until the movie opens on July 1, 2015. I’m sure we’ll see him in character… eventually.

Up until now, the specifics tied to next summer’s Terminator: Genisys have been kept in the dark. We knew who was in it, and who they were playing. We heard rumors of time travel, and notions of Genisys that connected back to James Cameron’s original 1984 classic. But the fine points were a mystery we were eager to unravel. Well, the first few clues started to drop, but they aren’t necessarily clearing things up.

Terminator: Genisys is getting the cover treatment by EW, showing off the four younger leads and including an hilarious photobomb by a menacing Terminator. The pics are below, but I want to zero in on some plot twists that EW felt comfortable sharing. They involve the version of Sarah Connor that Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke will be playing in Terminator: Genisys, and the details are… confusing, at best. According to the magazine, Clarke’s Sarah Connor will be very different than the Connor we have seen in the previous Terminator films, and it all will come down to parenting.

EW reports that Emilia Clarke’s Sarah Connor "was orphaned by a Terminator at age 9." Since that moment, young Sarah has been "raised by [Arnold] Schwarzenegger’s Terminator – an older T-800 she calls ‘Pops’ – who is programmed to guard rather than to kill." This emo Sarah Connor will be, according to the magazine, "a highly trained antisocial recluse who’s great with a sniper rifle but not so skilled at the nuances of human emotion."

I’m not sure how that’s different from the Sarah Connor Linda Hamilton played in T2: Judgment Day. But producer David Ellison explains:

What’s unclear, at least in this article, is how this schism occurs on the timeline, introducing this new version of Sarah Connor. EW reports that the movie begins in 2029, where the rebel forces led by John Connor (Jason Clarke) have Skynet on the ropes. As in The Terminator, John sends righthand-man Kyle Reese (this time played by Jai Courtney) back in time to 1984 to prevent a T-800 (Schwarzenegger) from killing his future mom. But Kyle instead will find this new reality, and it will change everything.

The characters in the movie are going to look like this:

And this:

Love the subtle "JC" patch on John Connor’s arm. And that photobombing Terminator. This cover spread is odd. And the points raised by the EW article are confusing. Not that the Terminator myth follows a linear path. But a trailer might help sort all of this out. Paramount wants Terminator: Genisys to kickstart a new trilogy. Is this a good first step?

The Apes are coming, and you're a damned fool if you think you can do anything about it. The summer's 800 lb. gorilla is (almost) a literal one, and it's Dawn Of The Planet of The Apes. The sequel is beginning its final leg of marketing, and with that comes a brand new trailer, hitting ahead of the film's July 11th opening.

It's a pretty stark look at the new ape world. Whatever's left of humanity isn't much in the shutdown of our infrastructure in the wake of Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, which according to this trailer, was four years ago. Regardless, it appears Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is going to depict pockets of peace, with a happy, loquacious (!) band of apes living off the land and slowly building their own societies.

Since the moment the film was announced, there has been confusion centered on who would really be the lead character, but it looks like there might be an even share between Jason Clarke and Andy Serkis. Serkis is of course reprising his role from Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes as Caesar, who apparently has some misgivings about the fairly-extreme tact the apes have taken in basically wiping out civilization. He even misses home, judging by the brief snippet of footage he watches on a camcorder of his former friend Will Rodman (James Franco, making an oopsie cameo).

Jason Clarke's character is simpatico with Caesar and sees peace on the small planet between the two of them. However, the humans seem divided between his rhetoric and the fire-and-brimstone hatred that comes from Gary Oldman, here infuriated by the ruthlessness of the apes in decimating his world. It's an interesting conflict: how far can you pursue peace before you're wiped out? It's never a one-to-one correlation: Clarke and his fellow ape peaceniks are likely at the mercy of whatever militaristic tactics are employed by Gary Oldman's people. Guns, guns, guns!

Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes roars into theaters following a fairly weak July 4th slate that includes Deliver Us From Evil, Tammy and the second weekend of Transformers: Age Of Extinction. Opening against the film is the Michael Douglas/Diane Keaton counterprogrammer And So It Goes and the standup comedy picture The Fluffy Movie, neither of which are expected to do blockbuster numbers. With marketing material like this and a 3D boost, the film is a sure bet to top the $54 million taken during the first film's opening weekend.

Are you ready to climb the summit? Everest is coming, a big, exciting 3D adventure movie from director Baltasar Kormakur (Contraband) and now we have our first look. As you can see above, that’s the fierce Jason Clarke leading the expedition into the harsh terrain, on their way through one of the worst snowstorms in recorded history. The true story also stars Josh Brolin, John Hawkes and Jake Gyllenhaal, and from the looks of it, it’s going to be a pretty unpleasant go of it for our intrepid explorers.

On the heels of this first peak comes word from The Film Stage that the release date has changed for the action picture. Everest was originally expected on February 27th, 2015. Now, it’s been bumped until later in the year, set to debut on September 18th, 2015. The original release date would have seen the picture competing with two modestly-sized star pictures: the Will Smith-Margot Robbie grafter picture Focus will hit on that date. Also debuting is the latest from Tarsem, the movie Selfless with Ryan Reynolds. Even considering the dubious star appeal of the toxic Reynolds, who has to live down recent bombs Green Lantern and R.I.P.D., that was probably a smart shift.

Now the snowy survival picture will have a home in the still-relatively-unoccupied September month of 2015. Everest will arrive a week before the only two announced September releases. On the 25th, writer-director Nancy Meyers (It’s Complicated) returns with The Intern starring Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro. Also hitting in that spot is the early-for-Halloween kids’ flick Hotel Transylvania 2, and hands up if you remember ANYTHING about the first Hotel Transylvania.

Interesting that Clarke was the actor selected to give fans a sneak peek at Everest.

He’s been bouncing around Hollywood for a while now, bringing intensity to even the smallest parts. The Australian actor, who seems like he’d be a smaller name that Brolin and Gyllenhaal, turned heads in a major way with two standout roles. In Lawless, he fit the role of the third Bondurant brother alongside Tom Hardy and Shia LaBeouf with an impressive gravity and grit. And while Jessica Chastain was the standout performance in Zero Dark Thirty, Clarke’s performance as a weary detainment camp interrogator created some of the film’s most indelible and upsetting images. The actor will loom large in two very large roles coming up: in Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, he’ll lead the charge against those damned filthy apes. And in Terminator: Genesis, he becomes the latest actor to step into the boots of humanity’s savior, John Connor.

I remember feeling incredibly disappointed when Shawn Ryan’s Fox cop drama The Chicago Code was cancelled, as the series had so much potential, not to mention a pretty great cast. But it’s hard to regret the situation entirely when taking into account the direction of Jason Clarke’s career. Since The Chicago Code was cancelled in 2011, he’s gone on to appear in Zero Dark Thirty, The Great Gatsby and White House Down, with a host of upcoming projects on his CV, and it looks like the Terminator reboot could be among them in a big way, as the actor is reportedly in talks to play the role of John Connor.

Deadline reports that Clarke is in early talks to lead the rebellion against the machines in the role of John Connor in the Terminator reboot, which is currently going under the title Terminator: Genesis, is set to be helmed by Alan Taylor and has a release date set for July 1, 2015.

Anyone familiar with the Terminator franchise knows what a key role John Connor plays to the story, as he’s the future leader of the resistance against Skynet and the machines. He’s the guy the Terminator wants to undo, first by targeting his mother in The Terminator and then by targeting John as a kid in the second film of the original franchise. He becomes the central character in the films that followed. Deadline doesn’t specify how prominently John Connor fits into Terminator: Genesis, but if we were looking at the original Terminator movie, John Connor would be in the flash-forwards of Kyle Reese’s past. That may be applicable with the reboot as well, when we consider that Emilia Clarke is a front-runner for the part of Sarah Connor, John’s mother. Given that there’s an 18 year age difference going in the wrong direction — for what’s humanly possible for a mother and son — between Clarke and Clarke, it stands to reason that she’s in the past (or present, depending on where we're standing) and he’s in the future, which lines up with how the original Terminator film worked, as John Connor had yet to be conceived at the start of the 1984 film.

In past Terminators, John Connor was played by Edward Furlong (T2), Nick Stahl (T3), Christian Bale (T4) and Thomas Dekker (TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles). In terms of actors, Clarke’s a solid choice, as he’s proven to be a great asset to a number of projects. Plus, if Emilia Clarke lands the part of Sarah, the surname connection makes it feel like this is all meant to be. But it sounds like, at present, nothing is set in stone here. Or as they say, "The future's not set. There's no fate but what we make for ourselves."

Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos made a big splash in 2010 when his utterly bizarre feature Dogtooth was released and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film Of The Year (ultimately losing out to Susanne Bier's In A Better World), but only now is the filmmaker ready to make his English-language debut. The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Lanthimos is now putting the pieces together for his latest movie, a strange-sounding project called The Lobster, and has lined up some big names to star, including Zero Dark Thirty‘s Jason Clarke, Skyfall‘s Ben Whishaw, and Blue Is The Warmest Color‘s Léa Seydoux.

Much like both Dogtooth and his last film, Alps, Lanthimos co-wrote the script for the new film with Efthymis Filippou, and while specific details about the plot and the characters aren't currently available, THR does makes note of its weird-yet-awesome sounding premise. The story is described as a romantic drama and will be set in a dystopian future where all single people must find a mate within 45 days. The consequence for failing to follow this societal law is that you get turned into an animal and sent into the woods. It will center on a man who is scheduled to be transformed but manages to escape. The trade sadly doesn't mention what characters the actors will be playing or how they fit into the plot, but I really only have one major question at this stage: where does the lobster come in?

Lanthimos' movies aren't exactly the most accessible titles out there, as its understandable that some people may be turned off by just how strange everything in his movies are, but if you're into that sort of thing his works are definitely worth a look. You can watch trailers for his two most recent films below.

Also set to appear in the movie, according to Deadline, will be Olivia Colman (Peep Show, Hot Fuzz), Ariane Labed (Before Midnight) and Angeliki Papoulia, who was in both Dogtooth and Alps. Production won't begin until March, so don't expect to see the finished product before the second half of next year - probably at the Toronto or Venice film festivals.

A few months back, Christian Bale was attached to star as a mountain climber in Everest, Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur’s follow-up to the Denzel Washington/Mark Whalberg crime caper 2 Guns, but apparently Bale has moved onto greener, more sea-level pastures, while Kormakur has rounded up a stunning group of A-listers. Deadline reports the Working Title production is in talks with Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Jake Gyllenhaal and Jason Clarke to star in the non-bombastic disaster film. Is anyone else just the least bit tickled by how much alliteration this cast has going on?

Kormakur is assembling the cast himself, proving his dedication to the project, and Universal Pictures and Emmett/Furla Films are currently in discussions to co-finance the film. One has to wonder how big of a budget a film like this will call for.

Everest, unlike the Doug Liman project, will thankfully not just be an origin story about the first people to climb the world’s tallest peaks of Mount Everest, as inspiring a story as that may be. Kormakur’s film will instead focus on the deadliest year in the mountain’s history, when a huge snow storm hit the mountain, leaving eight climbers dead. (15 people actually died over the season, but the film centers on only one expedition.) The disaster was the focus of the popular nonfiction book Into Thin Air, written by Jon Krakauer, who had first-hand knowledge of the tragedy, as he was on site writing about it for a magazine. Krakauer and his work were criticized post-publication, and it’s perhaps because of this that the film will be based on several written sources beyond Into Thin Air, as well as interviews with some of the survivors.

Unfortunately, there’s no word on what roles these actors would be taking, but I guess there would be some spoilers involved if they did. I also wonder if Krakauer will be a character within the film, given his involvement with the climb.

This is a cast that is in no danger of going unseen in the next year or two. Brolin will exact harsh vengeance in Spike Lee’s Oldboy remake in October. Gyllenhaal will play a cop searching for missing girls in the crime thriller Prisoners. Hawkes teams up with Will Forte for one big score in Daniel Schechter’s untitled Elmore Leonard adaptation. Clarke will star as Tom Lincoln in A.J. Edwards “young Abraham Lincoln” drama The Green Blade Rises. To be sure, these are just the projects these actors have coming up next.

They’re all currently filming other projects, and Kormakur is aiming to begin production in November, which makes me think some heavy planning will need to be done to secure all these actors within that timeframe. Assuming they aren’t filming the whole thing on location at the mountain itself, it could definitely happen.

As though the cast of Daniel Espinosa's upcoming thriller Child 44 wasn't impressive enough - boasting names like Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman, Paddy Considine and Fares Fares - today we learn that the film has added yet another stellar, acclaimed star. Jason Clarke, the Australian actor best known for his performance in Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar winning feature Zero Dark Thirty, is the latest name to join the ranks of the movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Based on the novel by Tom Rob Smith, the film is set in the Soviet Union during the 1950s and centers on Tom Hardy as a military police officer named Leo Demidov. Performing his duties he is horrified to pick up a case involving a string of brutal child murders. He digs further into the case, as his government keeps an eye on every move he makes and refuses to admit that the murders actually exist.The book, which was first published in 2008, was actually the first in a trilogy, followed by 2009's "The Secret Speech" and 2011's "Agent 6." Presumably if Child 44 does well there is a chance that the producers and the studio will look to adapt those stories as well.

In the movie, Clarke will be playing a man named Brodsky who is described by THR as being a "snaky man." In the narrative he is accused by Hardy's character of being a traitor - but the trades doesn't give any larger context. The actor has been having a solid year so far, starring in both Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby and Roland Emmerich's White House Down. He has a major role in Matt Reeves' upcoming Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and will soon be seen playing President Abe Lincoln in A.J. Edward's The Green Blade Rises - which is expected to come out some time later this year. He also recently joined the cast of Stephen Gaghan's thriller Candy Store, which also sports an all-star cast that includes Robert De Niro, Christoph Waltz, and Omar Sy.

Clarke is actually a very late addition to the project, as the movie is actually already in production. Espinosa, who last directed the thriller Safe House with Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, is directing from a script by Richard Price (whose previous credits include the remake of Shaft with Samuel L. Jackson and Christian Bale and the legendary HBO series The Wire). Ridley Scott and Michael Schaefer are producing through their Scott Free banner and while the film does not yet have a release date, Lionsgate is already set to distribute.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes allowed Andy Serkis to turn in another phenomenal, fully fleshed-out motion capture performance as Caesar, the ape who would eventually grow up to lead a revolution. Now that it's time for the sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, we're preparing to see Caesar in a lot more action-- and action on horseback, no less.

Tweeted by director Matt Reeves, the photo shows Serkis on horseback and in full motion-capture suit, interacting with The Great Gatsby's Jason Clarke, who plays one of the few remaining humans in the film. If you hold your laptop up really, really close to your face you can also spot Keri Russell and Kodi Smit-McPhee, who are both part of the human resistance that was revealed recently in the film's plot synopsis. The fact that Serkis is right there on horseback, in the middle of an outdoor scene with the other actors, is amazing evidence of how far motion-capture work has come since he first played Gollum. When The Two Towers was shot nearly 15 years ago, Serkis had to do all of his motion-capture acting on a soundstage by himself. Now he's in the middle of the scene, as if Caesar really was just an ape actor especially good at taking direction.

You can follow Reeves on Twitter if you want to follow for more updates from the set, but don't count on him to be as prolific as The Amazing Spider-Man 2 director Marc Webb, who's provided near-daily peeks behind the curtain of the sequel. Before today Reeves's last tweet came 39 days ago… to wish Elias Koteas a happy birthday. I'm hoping for more shots of Serkis in the mo-cap suit too, but this one is so good we might just have to settle for it.

He hasn't earned the same kind of Oscar buzz as his co-star Jessica Chastain, but Zero Dark Thirty's Jason Clarke makes a huge impression in the film in what's probably its most controversial scene, playing the amiable but terrifying CIA interrogator torturing a captive prisoner. Australian Clarke has been making his way up in Hollywood in the past few years, popping up opposite Chastain in last summer's Lawless and in Michael Mann's Public Enemies, and now he seems to have lined up the role that could make him, finally, a star.

According to THR, Clarke has signed on as the human star of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to 2011's Rise of the Planet of the Apes that THR reveals will be set 15 years after the first film. Though Andy Serkis will indeed be returning to play the hyper-intelligent ape Caesar, leader of the ape rebellion that began at the end of the last film, another strand of the story will focus on a group of human scientists struggling to survive in San Francisco. Clarke's role hasn't been revealed, but it's not hard to see him as one of those scientists.

Dawn is now poised to be a breakthrough for two people, as Cloverfield and Let Me In director Matt Reeves steps behind the camera, trying his hand at a huge studio blockbuster for the first time. And with the 15 years later setting, this seems to be pretty firmly prove that James Franco won't be part of the sequel, as he suggested back in December. Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a surprisingly intelligent and well-crafted blockbuster, and Reeves seems perfectly skilled to carry that forward. And with scene-stealer Clarke in the lead, Serkis might actually have to watch out-- we might leave this next one not talking about Caesar at all, but that human who stole the Apes movie from the apes.

William Monahan, who most notably took home a Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award for his work on Martin Scorsese's The Departed, has found his leads for his next directorial project. And much like London Boulevard, his last project which starred Colin Farrell and Kiera Knightley, the project is built on two very talented performers. Atlas Independent, and Henceforth Pictures have announced that Oscar Isaac and Jason Clarke have been tapped to star in Mojave.

In a press release published by Deadline it's noted that Monahan also wrote the original screenplay, but as of now all plot details are being kept under wraps. The same can be said about project details as well, as the announcement doesn't say when the film is aiming to go before cameras or when the studio is planning on bringing the finished product to theaters.

Both Clarke and Isaac have kept busy this year and will be continuing that streak going into 2013. The former, an Australian native, was featured in Lawless this past summer alongside Tom Hardy and Shia LaBeouf, and will soon be back in theaters as a part of Kathryn Bigelow's aready-acclaimed Osama Bin Laden drama Zero Dark Thirty. He has wrapped production on Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, Roland Emmerich's White House Down and Lincoln drama The Green Blade Rises, all of which will be out next year.

Isaac's appearances have been more low-key starring in the indie Revenge for Jolly!, taking a small role in The Bourne Legacy and playing a part in the teacher drama Won't Back Down. Some time next year he will be taking the lead in the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis, and he recently completed filming the indie Therese Raquin with Elizabeth Olsen and Jessica Lange. He is currently filming Hoseein Amini's The Two Faces of January.

Fox had a solid series on its hands in the Shawn-Ryan-created cop drama The Chicago Code. Unfortunately, the 2011 Midseason show didn't earn the ratings it deserved, and it failed to receive a Season 2 order. On the bright side, Fox's loss was ABC's gain, as Ryan has since moved on to create Last Resort, which premieres on ABC this fall. And The Chicago Code star Jason Clarke was available to pursue feature roles, among which are parts in the upcoming John Hillcoat western drama Lawless, and Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby. It seems like Clarke is a little bit everywhere these days, and that's a good thing.

Deadline has reported that Clarke is joining the cast of Roland Emmerich's upcoming thriller White House Down, a film that will see Jamie Foxx as the president, and Channing Tatum a Secret Service agent tasked to protect him. Clarke may have been on the right side of the law in The Chicago Code, but it looks like he's the ringleader for the mercenaries who break into the White House in White House Down.

Prior to playing homicide detective Jarek Wysocki in The Chicago Code, Clarke's credits include Public Enemies, the TV series Brotherhood and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.

If everything goes as planned, production will begin on White House Down in Montreal later this month. In addition to Tatum, Foxx and Clarke, the film stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and the recently cast Joey King.

It's probably also worth mentioning that White House Down is not to be confused with the other White House thriller in the works, the Antoine Fuqua-directed Olympus Has Fallen, which stars Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Angela Bassett, Cole Hauser, Melissa Leo and Radha Mitchell.

So it’s Jason Clarke of TV’s The Chicago Code – and not Joel Edgerton, as was widely rumored – who’ll be the first man cast for Kathryn Bigelow’s as-yet-untitled Osama Bin Laden thriller. Deadline reports that the Hurt Locker director has tapped Clarke for her terrorist-hunting team, and is circling other high-profile actors and actresses to join the ranks of a feature she intends to film early next year.

Though Bigelow was one of the first filmmakers to announce a military drama surrounding the hunt for Bin Laden – getting on the proverbial board long before Bin Laden was captured and killed by U.S. forces – she’s now racing against competing projects trying to get a Bin Laden picture into theaters. She’ll reunite with Oscar-winning screenwriter Mark Boal to recount the efforts of SEAL Team Six, who tracked the Taliban leader to Pakistan and eliminated him in his private residence.

And who, according to Deadline, might join Clarke? While I’m not ready to count out Edgerton (who’d be ideal for a role based on his look alone), Bigelow reportedly is eyeing Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Rooney Mara and Edgerton’s Warrior co-star Tom Hardy for the film. That’s a mighty impressive wish list, though the site admits that scheduling could be an issue for a number of those castmembers. As for Clarke, audiences soon will be able to see him opposite Shia LaBeouf in The Wettest County in the World, which also happens to co-star Tom Hardy . He also has a part opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, currently filming in Australia.

After coming back from the dead, John Hillcoat's The Wettest County in the World has already managed to amass quite an impressive cast. Originally set to star Shia LaBeouf, Ryan Gosling, Michael Shannon and Amy Adams, the new group includes LaBeouf (the only consistent cast member), Tom Hardy and Jessica Chastain. Now the prohibition drama has added four more names that will certainly raise your eyebrows.

Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman, Mia Wasikowska and Jason Clarke have all signed on to join the Hillcoat film, according to THR. Adapted from the book by Matt Bondurant and based on a script by Nick Cave, the plot comes from the true story of the Bondurant boys, who were bootlegging siblings who operated in in Prohibition-era Virginia. In the film Pearce will be playing an "overly violent" deputy who proves to be the Bondurant's biggest oposition; Oldman will play a gangster who hires the Bondurants; Wasikowska will play a " local Mennonite girl" who will also be LaBeouf's love interest; and Clarke will play the third Bondurant boy. While Oldman, Wasikowska and Clarke will be working with the director for the first time, Pearce previously starred in Hillcoat's The Proposition.

Considering how close the project came to not happening, this is pretty damn impressive. Currently in pre-production, the film is set to start up later this month. Given Hillcoat's filmography and this cast, I think it's more than okay to be excited.