Mike Sampson is the Editor-in-Chief of ScreenCrush. He studied to become a lawyer and worked as an architectural planner after graduating college but neither of these professions afforded him the opportunity to watch movies and TV for a living. He previously served as the Editor-in-Chief of JoBlo.com for 10 years. He lives in New Jersey and probably spends too much time playing video games and overthinking things.
Mike Sampson
Director James Wan Still Has Trouble Watching the ‘Furious 7’ Ending
Fast and Furious 7 is an emotional movie; there's no getting around that. There were few dry eyes after the screening we attended. But, if it's this emotional for people who are watching the movie, can you imagine what it must be like for the people who made the movie, and knew Paul Walker? We spoke to director James Wan who told us that it's still so hard, he has to get up and leave the theater during the film's ending.
‘Captain America: Civil War’ Plot Revealed and Start Date Announced
Avengers 2 doesn't open for another few weeks, but deep inside Marvel headquarters they've already begun turning their attention to the next big movie: Captain America: Civil War. Frequently referred to as Avengers 2.5 because of the sheer amount of superheroes packed into this one film — Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Falcon, Black Panther, Spider-Man and Hawkeye are all confirmed to star — the third Captain America movie might be the biggest superhero film yet. As Marvel gets ready to begin filming, a casting call has given us our first look at the film's plot.
New ‘Avengers 2’ TV Spot Features a Ton of New Footage
We're all done with Avengers 2 trailers, but this new extended TV spot (which will air during the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament) has so much awesome new footage, it's almost as good as a full trailer.
Watch Vin Diesel’s Emotional Introduction to a ‘Fast and Furious 7’ Screening
Earlier this week, we were among those in the audience for the first ever Fast and Furious 7 screening at SXSW. It was an emotional affair, to say the least. It's not often you watch a movie where The Rock walks down a street shooting a helicopter out of the sky with a massive gatling gun that ends with everyone in the audience crying, but there we were. An entire audience still processing the grief and sadness of the death of Paul Walker. A few days after that screening, Vin Diesel hosted a similar screening in Los Angeles and introduced the film to the crowd. It was about as sad as you can imagine.
J.J. Abrams Returning to Direct ‘Star Wars: Episode 9’?
When Rian Johnson was officially announced as the Star Wars: Episode 8 director last week, one name was conspicuously absent from the initial press release: J.J. Abrams. Among the producers listed — Kathleen Kennedy, Ram Bergman (Looper) and Johnson — Abrams was nowhere to be found. An updated release was later sent with Abrams noted as an Executive Producer, but it only fueled the flames that J.J. Abrams may be one-and-done with the Star Wars franchise. Not so fast.
‘Pixels’ Trailer: It’s On Like Donkey Kong
Lately there haven't been many video game movies that have been very good. There also haven't been many Adam Sandler movies that have been very good. So, how about this Adam Sandler video game movie?... Wait, where are you going?! Pixels is not your standard Adam Sandler or video game movie and, based on this trailer, you might want to give it a chance.
‘Spectre’ Poster: James Bond Ditches His Suit
Unlike the super secrecy of Star Wars: Episode 7 or Marvel, Spectre has been surprisingly forthcoming, especially for a movie that's all about secrets. So far, in just a relatively short amount of filming time, we've had two video blogs updating with news the set and today we already have a Spectre poster.
‘Avengers 2’ Poster: Ultron Finally Gets His Own Art
Now that all the Avengers 2 heroes have gotten their own character posters (OK, almost all — we're still waiting for Vision), it's time for the villain to get his due. Here's what may be the final of these set of posters with a shiny new look at Ultron.
‘Hotel Transylvania 2’ Trailer: Things Get Batty in This Adam Sandler Sequel
Adam Sandler’s live-action comedies have been underperforming lately (so much so that he recently signed a deal to make his next movies for Netflix), but 2012’s Hotel Transylvania was one of Sandler's best performing films in years. Because of that success, a new sequel is on the way with the whole “Drac Pack” returning for a spooky adventure.
‘Zoolander 2’: Derek and Hansel Walk the Runway at Paris Fashion Week to Announce the Sequel!
Zoolander 2 isn't scheduled to officially start filming until later this spring in Rome, but it looks like stars Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson just got a jump on the production. The Zoolander stars showed up in character as Derek and Hansel and closed out the Valentino show at Paris Fashion Week with a walk on the runway.