Barry

Genre Comedy

Cast Bill Hader, Henry "Fonzie" Winkler, Stephen Root, Sarah Greenberg

Rating TV-MA

Series Premiere Sunday March 25th, 2018 10:30PM (HBO)

“A hit man from the Midwest moves to Los Angeles and gets caught up in the city’s theatre arts scene.”

A new HBO comedy series premiering in March, Barry is about a hitman from the Midwest who moves to Los Angeles and finds himself caught up in the city's theatre arts scene. I am just now hearing about this show to be honest but HBO really isn't in the business of making bad T.V. so I am sure this will be pretty damn good. The cast includes Bill Hader, Henry "Fonzie" Winkler, Stephen Root, and Sarah Greenberg. Check out the official trailers below!!  

Ted Takes Fun Facts, Barry:

• Actor Bill Hader's directorial debut.

The Titan

Director Lennart Ruff

Genre Sci-Fi

Cast Sam Worthington, Taylor Schilling, Tom Wilkinson, Agyness Deyn

Rating Unrated

Release Date March 30th, 2018 (Netflix)

“A military family takes part in a ground-breaking experiment of genetic evolution and space exploration.”

From director Lennart Ruff, The Titan is a sci-fi film about a military family that takes part in a groundbreaking experiment of genetic evolution and space exploration. The cast includes Sam Worthington, Taylor Schilling, Tom Wilkinson, and Agyness Deyn. Check out the official trailer below!!

Ted Takes Fun Facts, The Titan:

• The locations of The Titan belong to the island of Gran Canaria, Spain. It took eight weeks to shoot all the scenes. The crew filmed in different locations and they were assisted by the Spanish Airforce in some of them.
• This is the third time Sam Worthington stars in a movie filmed in the Canary Islands. All of them contain the name "Titan" in their title. The previous ones were Clash of The Titans and Wrath of The Titans even though The Titan is not related to the other two movies.

God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness

Director Michael Mason

Genre Drama

Cast David A.R. White, John Corbett, Shane Harper, Ted McGinley

Rating PG

Release Date March 30th, 2018

“Pastor Dave responds to the unimaginable tragedy of having his church, located on the grounds of the local university, burned down.”

Written and directed by Michael Mason, God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness tells the story fo a Pastor who who is forced to face the unimaginable tragedy of having his church burned to the ground. The cast includes David A.R. White, John Corbett, Shane Harper, and Ted McGinley. Check out the official trailer below!!

Pacific Rim: Uprising

Director Steven S. DeKnight

Genre Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Cast John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Charlie Day, Tian Jing

Rating PG-13

Release Date March 23rd, 2018

“Jake Pentecost, son of Stacker Pentecost, reunites with Mako Mori to lead a new generation of Jaeger pilots, including rival Lambert and 15-year-old hacker Amara, against a new Kaiju threat.”

The feature-film directorial debut for Steven S. DeKnight, Pacific Rim: Uprising is the sequel tio to the hit 2013 film about huge robots battling giant aliens. Sounds corny I agree, but it was actually pretty awesome so I am excited to see this new one. The cast includes John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Charlie Day, and Tian Jing. Check out the official trailers below!!

Ted Takes Fun Facts, Pacific Rim: Uprising:

• Del Toro will not direct the sequel, however he will be producing and writing the story for the movie.
• In a interview with Collider in November 2014, Guillermo del Toro talked about setting the stage for Pacific Rim 2 (2017) in stating: "It's a few years after the first one. It's not an immediate follow-up. It is the world having been freed of Kaiju, what happens to the world after - what happens to the Jaeger technology once the Kaiju are not a threat. It's quite a jump."

Isle of Dogs

Director Wes Anderson

Genre Animation | Adventure | Comedy

Cast Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum

Rating Unrated

Release Date March 23rd, 2018

“Set in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy’s odyssey in search of his dog.”

Written and directed by the uniquely talented Wes Anderson, the man behind The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonride Kingdom, and The Grand Budapest Hotel, amongst others, The Isle of Dogs is his latest creation and is a animation comedy about a boy in Japan and the epic search for his missing dog. The cast includes Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, and Jeff Goldblum. Check out the newly released official trailer below!!

Ted Takes Fun Facts, Isle of Dogs:

• Wes Anderson's eighth collaboration with Bill Murray.
• Wes Anderson hosted a competition for someone to be a member of the voice-cast for this film. The only requirement was that you donated $10 or more to the Film Foundation, a non-profit founded by Martin Scorsese which specialises in the preservation and restoration of film across the world.

• The movie was influenced by the work of Akira Kurosawa and Rankin-Bass stop-motion Christmas specials.

Unsane

Director Steven Soderbergh

Genre Thriller | Horror

Cast Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Juno Temple, Jay Pharoah

Rating R

Release Date March 23rd, 2018

“A young woman is involuntarily committed to a mental institution where she is confronted by her greatest fear—but is it real or is it a product of her delusion?”

From acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh (Side Effects, Logan Lucky), Unsane is a thriller about a young woman who is involuntarily committed to a mental institution and forced to face her greatest fear. The cast includes Claire Foy, Juno Temple, Aimee Mullins, and Amy Irving. Check out the official trailer below!!

Ted Takes Fun Facts, Unsane:

• Shot entirely with an iPhone camera.
• Steven Soderbergh's first horror movie.

Sherlock Gnomes

Director John Stevenson

Genre Animation | Adventure | Comedy

Cast Emily Blunt, James McAvoy, Johnny Depp, Michael Caine

Rating PG

Release Date March 23rd, 2018

“Garden gnomes, Gnomeo & Juliet, recruit renown detective, Sherlock Gnomes, to investigate the mysterious disappearance of other garden ornaments.”

From director John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda), Sherlock Gnomes is an animated comedy that turns everyone's favorite detective into a lawn gnome. Why not right? With a stellar cast of voice actors including Emily Blunt, James McAvoy, Johnny Depp, and Michael Caine, this should be pretty good. Check out the official trailer below!!

Ted Takes Fun Facts, Sherlock Gnomes:

• This is Johnny Depp's third animated movie. The other two had been Corpse Bride (2005) and Rango (2011), that latter of which being another film that was distributed by Paramount Pictures.
• The film will release seven years after Gnomeo & Juliet (2011).

Game Over, Man!

Director Kyle Newacheck

Genre Action | Comedy

Cast Adam Devine, Anders Holm, Blake Anderson, Neal McDonough

Rating Unrated

Release Date March 23rd, 2018 (Netflix)

“Three friends are on the verge of getting their video game financed when their benefactor is taken hostage by terrorists.”

Game Over, Man! is a over-the-top comedy drama from director Kyle Newacheck. The primary cast (as pictured above) includes Adam Devine, Anders Holm, and Blake Anderson, the comedic trio from the Comedy Central show Workaholics. Newacheck, who has quite a resume including 41 episodes of Workaholics, actually stars in the show as well as everyone's favorite pot dealer Karl. As dumb as that show may be, I think it is absolutely hilarious and I can't get enough of underrated actor Adam Devine, who was great in Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. Surprisingly I had never heard of this movie until I stumbled upon the trailer on Netflix's official YouTube channel (what a happy accident!). The trailer is HILARIOUS so consider me pretty amped up for the movie to hit Netflix on March 23rd! Check out the official trailers below!!

Ted Takes Fun Facts, Game Over, Man!:

• Adam Devine, Anders Holm and Blake Anderson were the leads of Workaholics (2011), and while it isn't explicitly a 'Workaholics' film, it does share a lot of the cast and crew.
• The title of this movie comes from an iconic line in the movie Aliens where Bill Paxton's character says that line

Midnight Sun

Director Scott Speer

Genre Drama | Romance

Cast Bella Thorne, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Rob Riggle, Quinn Shephard

Rating PG-13

Release Date March 23rd, 2018

“17-year-old girl Katie has been sheltered since childhood and confined to her house during the day by a rare disease that makes even the smallest amount of sunlight deadly. Fate intervenes when she meets Charlie and they embark on a summer romance.”

From director Scott Speer, Midnight Sun is a drama romance based on the Japanese film of the same name that released in 2006. The film is about a 17-year old girl who has been sheltered and confined to her home basically her entire life due to a rare disease that makes even the slightest exposure to sunlight life-threatening. Her life changes when she meets Charlie and the two develop a special relationship that refuses to be held back by her disease. The cast includes Bella Thorne, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Rob Riggle, and Quinn Shephard. Check out the official trailer below!!

Ted Takes Fun Facts, Midnight Sun:

• Patrick Schwarzenegger is elder son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver. A member of the Kennedy family, Schwarzenegger is also the grand nephew of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
• This is also Patrick Schwarzenegger's first lead role in a major film project.

Trust: The Getty Family Saga

Genre Crime | Drama

Cast Donald Suthlerland, Hilary Swank, Brendan Fraser, Harris Dickinson

Rating Unrated

Series Premiere Sunday, March 25th, 2018 (FX)

“Rome, 1973. John Paul Getty III, the heir and younger member of an oil tycoons’ saga, is kidnapped by the Italian mafia in order to get a ransom. Quite surprisingly, for some undisclosed reason, his family seems not interested at all in having him back.”

In 2017 All the Money in the World hit theaters telling the story of a high-profile kidnapping involving the grandson of one of the richest men in the world, oil tycoon John Paul Getty. Now FX has put together a series chronicling the events and it looks to be pretty damn good. The cast includes Donald Suthlerland, Hilary Swank, Brendan FraserHarris Dickinson, and Michael Esper. Check out the official trailer below!!

Ted Takes Fun Facts, Trust:

• Coincidentally, this went into production at the same time as Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World (2017).
• The English estate where J. Paul Getty spent the end of his life, Sutton Place, had been previously occupied by the Duke of Sutherland.

Paul, Apostle of Christ

Director Andrew Hyatt

Genre Drama

Cast James Faulkner, Jim Caviezel, Joanne Whalley, John Lynch

Rating PG-13

Release Date March 23rd, 2018 (Limited)

“The story covers Paul, portrayed by Faulkner, going from the most infamous persecutor of Christians to Jesus Christ’s most influential apostle.”

Written and directed by Andrew Hyatt, Paul, Apostle of Christ is a drama about Paul's journey going from the most infamous persecutor of Christians to Jesus Christ's most influential apostle. The cast includes James Faulkner, Jim Caviezel, Joanne Whalley, and John Lynch. Check out the official trailer below!!

Ted Takes Fun Facts, Paul, Apostle of Christ:

• This film is the second time Jim Caviezel performs as a Biblical person. The first time was in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (2004) where he performed as Jesus of Nazareth.
• Paul of Taron, Paul the apostle and Saul of Tarsus are one man.

I Kill Giants

Director Anders Walter

Genre Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

Cast Zoe Saldana, Imogen Poots, Jennifer Ehle, Noel Clarke

Rating Unrated

Release Date March 23rd, 2018

“Barbara Thorson struggles through life by escaping into a fantasy life of magic and monsters.”

The feature film directorial debut for Anders Walter, I Kill Giants is a fantasy drama about a girl who escapes into a fantasy world of magics and monsters to deal with real-life struggles. The cast includes Zoe Saldana, Imogen Poots, Jennifer Ehle, and Noel Clarke. Check out the official trailer below!!

Ted Takes Fun Facts, I Kill Giants:

• This will be Zoe Saldana's third appearance in a comic book adaptation following The Losers (2010) and Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).
• Adapted from Image Comics 2008 graphic novel series under the same name, by writer Joe Kelly and artist J. M. Ken Niimura.

Silicon Valley: Season 5

Genre Comedy

Cast Thomas Middleditch, Kumail Nanjiani, Martin Starr, Josh Brener

Rating TV-MA

Series Premiere Sunday March 25th, 2018 10:00PM EST (HBO)

“Follows the struggle of Richard Hendricks, a silicon valley engineer trying to build his own company called Pied Piper.”

Season 5 of HBO's Silicon Valley finally has a trailer and a release date! I absolutely love this show, and although I am sad to see T.J. Miller leave, I think they have enough of a quality core cast left to keep things rolling along. The writing is fantastic and the show has so many great characters and personalities. Full disclosure, I have rewatched quite a few episodes and they never get old. The cast includes Thomas Middleditch, Kumail Nanjiani, Martin Starr, and Josh Brener. Check out the newly released teaser trailer below! 

Ted Takes Fun Facts, HBO's Silicon Valley:

• Much of the main cast were friends or friendly in real life because they knew each other from the stand-up comedy world. Thomas Middleditch, T.J. Miller, Kumail Nanjiani, and Josh Brener are all seasoned stand-up comedians.
• Kumail Najiani (Dinesh) is from Pakistan and one of his college majors was in Computer Science.
• During the opening credits, you can see how the Facebook signal "eats" the Whatsapp and Oculus signal, referring to their purchase by Facebook.

Tomb Raider

Director Roar Uthaug

Genre Action | Adventure

Cast Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu

Rating PG-13

Release Date March 16th, 2018

“Lara Croft, the fiercely independent daughter of a missing adventurer, must push herself beyond her limits when she finds herself on the island where her father disappeared.”

From Norwegian director Roar Uthaug (Escape, The Wave), Tomb Raider is the latest film adaptation of the extremely popular action adventure videogame. Tomb Raider was always one of my favorite games growing up, and I would be lying if I didn't admit that the sexy main character contributed significantly to the appeal. The videogame version is still alive and well with a new game having come out recently. The most first actress to step into the role on the big-screen was Angelina Jolie, and she did pretty well as far as fans were concerned (just don't ask the critics), but now it's Alicia Vikander's chance. Vikander fits the role well if I say so myself and this trailer has me pumped up! I look forward to her version of the beautiful Lara Croft. The cast includes Alicia Vikander, Walton Goggins, Hannah John-Kamen, and Dominic West. Check out the official trailers below!!

Ted Takes Fun Facts, Tomb Raider:

• The film's plot will be based off the 2013 reboot of the video game series.
• Alicia Vikander was actually a fan of the video game series growing up.
• Alicia Vikander will not only be the second actress to portray Lara Croft in a movie, but also the second Oscar winning actress to do so after Angelina Jolie.

Love, Simon

Director Greg Berlanti

Genre Drama

Cast Nick Robinson, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, Talitha Eliana Bateman

Rating PG-13

Release Date March 16th, 2018

“Everyone deserves a great love story. But for Simon it’s complicated: no-one knows he’s gay and he doesn’t know who the anonymous classmate is that he’s fallen for online. Resolving both issues proves hilarious, scary and life-changing.”

From director Greg Berlanti (Life as We Know It), Love, Simon is a coming-of-age drama about a young man who is struggling with his sexual identity. It is based on the novel from Becky Albertalli. The cast includes Nick Robinson, Jennifer Garner, Josh Duhamel, and Talitha Eliana Bateman. Check out the official trailers below!!

Ted Takes Fun Facts, Love, Simon:

• Although the movie is titled 'Love, Simon' it is actually an adaptation of the book 'Simon vs The Homosapiens Agenda'. The movie originally had the same name as the book, but it was too long to say, hence the name change.
• Temple Hill Entertainment will be producing the movie, known for adapting novels such as 'The Fault in Our Stars' and 'The Maze Runner'.

7 Days in Entebbe

Director José Padilha

Genre Crime | Drama | Thriller

Cast Rosamund Pike, Daniel Brühl, Nonso Anozie, Eddie Marsan

Rating PG-13

Release Date March 16th, 2018

“Inspired by the true events of the 1976 hijacking of an Air France flight en route from Tel Aviv to Paris, and the most daring rescue mission ever attempted.”

From director José Padilha, who previously directed RoboCop (2014), 7 Days in Entebbe is based on what most known as the "Raid on Entebbe" in which a daring rescue mission is attempted after a plane is hijacked. With a solid cast and an intriguing trailer I think this will be pretty good. The cast includes Rosamund Pike, Daniel Brühl, Nonso Anozie, and Eddie Marsan. Check out the official trailer below!!

Ted Takes Film Facts, 7 Days in Entebbe:

• StudioCanal optioned the rights to "Operation Thunderbolt: Flight 139 and the Raid on Entebbe Airport, the Most Audacious Hostage Rescue Mission in History" (published December 1, 2015), by Saul David. The book contains information that had previously not been available for books written about "Operation Thunderbolt", due to classification and security reasons.
• A lot of the film was shot in Luqa, Malta, at the International airport. A day after filming wrapped In Malta, a real hijacked Libyan airplane landed very close to where the set was. The hijackers used replica hand grenades and pistols.

Josie

Director Eric England

Genre Drama | Thriller

Cast Sophie Turner, Dylan McDermott, Kurt Filler, Daeg Faerch

Rating Unrated

Release Date March 16th, 2018

“Hank, a solitary man living a dull existence in the sleepy, Southern town raises eyebrows when he develops a questionable relationship with Josie, a recently transplanted high school student.”

From director Eric England, Josie is a drama thriller about a man that develops an inappropriate relationship with a high school student in a sleepy Southern town. The cast includes Sophie Turner, Dylan McDermott, Kurt Filler, and Daeg Faerch. Check out the official trailer below!

Ted Takes Fun Facts, Josie:

• Both Anya Taylor-Joy and Shea Whigham were set as the leads before dropping out. They were replaced by Sophie Turner and Dylan McDermott.
• The script was featured on the 2014 Blacklist, a list of the most liked scripts of the year.

Benji

Director Brandon Camp

Genre Family

Cast Gabriel Bateman, Darby Camp, Jerod Haynes, Angus Sampson

Rating Unrated

Release Date March 16th, 2018 (Netflix)

“A dog named Benji comes to the rescue and helps heal a broken family when a boy and his sister stumble into serious danger.”

Written and directed by Brandon Camp (Love Happens, Dragonfly), Benji is the return of everyone's favorite puppy, complete with a new adventure!! The cast includes Gabriel Bateman, Darby Camp, Jerod Haynes, and Angus Sampson. Check out the official trailer below!!

Demon House

Director Zak Bagans

Genre Documentary | Horror

Cast Zak Bagans, Jay Wasley, Billy Tolley

Rating Unrated

Release Date March 16th, 2018 (Limited)

“Paranormal investigator Zak Bagans documents the most authenticated case of possession in American history.”

Written and directed by paranormal investigator and host of Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures Zak Bagans, Demon House is a documentary that takes viewers inside the Gary, Indiana paranormal hotspot, aptly named "the house of 200 demons". Bagans writes, directs, and hosts the documentary. Check out the official trailer below!!

Ted Takes Fun Facts, Demon House:

• Paranormal investigator Zak Bagans purchased the home at 3860 Carolina Street to film the documentary, and had the home demolished in 2016.
• Gary, Indiana, where the home was located, was once considered the murder capitol of the U.S.

A Wrinkle in Time

Director Ava DuVernay

Genre Fantasy

Cast Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Storm Reid

Rating PG

Release Date March 9th, 2018

“After the disappearance of her scientist father, three peculiar beings send Meg, her brother, and her friend to space in order to find him.”

From director Ava DuVernay (Selma, 13th), A Wrinkle in Time is a fantasy adventure about the search of a scientist father who seemingly disappeared in space.  The cast includes Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Storm Reid, Zach Galifianakis, and Chris Pine, Check out the official trailer below!!

Ted Takes Fun Facts, A Wrinkle in Time:

• The second collaboration between Oprah Winfrey, Andre Holland, and director Ava DuVernay following Selma (2014).
• This is the first major motion picture adaptation of the classic novel written by Madeleine L'Engle since the 2003 television film adaptation, 15 years prior.