You’re not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but what of the works they left behind? Anton Yelchin’s remarkable talent was (and remains) undeniable, but not even he could save Porto, for which the primary selling points are: That it was produced by Jim Jarmusch, stars Yelchin in one of his last roles, and is vaguely reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s far superior Before trilogy.
While losing Anton Yelchin was a sad day for any number of reasons, here’s one more: several years after Yelchin worked with filmmaker David Karlak to produce the independent science-fiction short Rise, the film has finally been picked up by a studio to turn into a feature. According to The Hollywood Reporter (via iO9), Warner Bros. has recently signed on to adapt the popular science-fiction short Rise into a feature film. What should have been a celebrated accomplishment for both director and star is now somewhat tempered by the sadness of his passing.
The success of Guillermo del Toro’s Netflix Trollhunters adaptation has only made more bittersweet the passing of star Anton Yelchin, who’d largely completed work on the series prior to his death. Now, del Toro reveal that not only will Season 2 move forward, but that Yelchin still has a great deal of recording completed.
When Olivia Cooke’s Amanda enters a lavish Connecticut home at the beginning of Thoroughbred, it’s immediately clear something is off. It’s not just the eerie pops and crackles of the film’s score, or the fact that the opening scene showed her taking a knife out of her bag after menacingly staring at a horse. It’s that her face is entirely drained of emotion. When scanning the smiley-faced family photos of her childhood best friend’s home, Amanda suddenly looks up, cocks her head, and shoots a freakishly phony smile into a mirror. She holds it for an uncomfortable beat, then, as if deciding that particular emotion didn’t fit her right, she reverts back to her blank expression. Amanda is a sociopathic bored suburban teen who tries on different emotions like clothes or a grand gesture of performance art. But little does she know, she’s not the only one with sinister tendencies.
Among the many, many heartbreaks to come with actor Anton Yelchin’s death, the Star Trek star had officially signed onto a series adaptation of Stephen King’s Mr. Mercedes not a month before the accident. The AT&T series has now begun moving forward, setting a familiar Penny Dreadful star in the role Yelchin was to play.
It’s been an uncertain road getting there, but Guillermo del Toro’s Netflix Trollhunters is finally here. Straight from New York Comic-Con, check out the first official trailer for the December premiere, along with a brand-new poster.