Despite everyone remaining at home this year, tradition still stood true at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. While many directors make regular appearances in Hall H each year, there is only one director that annually receives his own panel regardless of whether or not he has a movie to promote. Since 1995, Kevin Smith has graced the stage of San Diego Comic-Con to basically just chat with the fans. While this year is a little different, he makes up for it by filling our ears with everything he’s been up to in the past year, as well as some new projects on the horizon.
Smith began the panel exactly where he left off last year, presenting the first look at his most recent film, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. From October 2019 to February 2020, Smith hit the road along with his co-star and “hetero-life mate” Jason Mewes for the “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Roadshow Tour”. The dynamic duo took the movie from coast to coast and even overseas, packed to the rafters with diehard fans of the View Askewniverse. Days after the tour ended, COVID-19 shut everything down. However, Smith makes it clear that no pandemic is mighty enough to stop the Smodfather.
Ever since the fall of last year, Smith has been serving as showrunner for “Masters of the Universe: Revelation”, a Netflix sequel series to the popular 80s series “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe”. While he couldn’t show us any trailers or official images (though he did tease us with a gag portrait of Skeletor in a suggestive pose), he informed us that dialogue recording has been completed and he has seen early animatics of the show.
Smith also plugged his new dedicated fan club site, That Kevin Smith Club. ThatKevinSmithClub.com includes a decade-long library of nearly all his weekly podcasts (the exception being Hollywood Babble-On, which is available at TheRalphReport.com), as well as countless interviews and TV appearances featuring Smith & Co. A welcome new addition to the Club is a morning show titled “Wake & Bake”, in which Smith reads from old production journals, unused screenplays, and of course does as the title suggests. The club has four tiers of membership that include different levels of access to the site’s content, as well as exclusive merchandise delivered to your door every 3 months. The tiers are Clerk ($5/month), Mallrat ($10/month), Funployee ($15/month) and Yoga Hoser ($30/month).
Next, Smith played to the fans of the horror genre, unveiling the first look at his long-in-development anthology film, “Killroy Was Here”. Filmed prior to “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot”, “Killroy” has been sitting on the back burner for nearly three years. Originally conceived as a Krampus-themed film co-written by Smith and his “Edumacation” co-host Andy Mcelfresh, “Killroy Was Here” provides a modern-day urban legend look at the character of Kilroy. Kilroy was made famous by American GIs that would draw the mysterious long-nosed figure peering over walls where they were stationed or had visited, including the caption “Kilroy Was Here”. In Smith’s version, Killroy (adding an extra L) was once Roy Huggins, a man left horribly disfigured after literally having his face melted. Smith describes his version of the character as “The Kid Avenger…ya know, if you F— with kids, Killroy will show up.” “Killroy Was Here” is targeting a release in early 2021.
Smith closed out the panel by giving an official announcement regarding his long-talked-about Mallrats sequel, “Twilight of the Mallrats”. Smith had been trying to get a Mallrats sequel off the ground for the better part of five years, but the success of “Reboot” renewed Universal’s interest. “Twilight of the Mallrats” will see Brodie Bruce (once again played by Jason Lee) dealing with the dying nature of his beloved mall in a post-pandemic world all while tackling fatherhood. The screenplay has been completed and filming is currently targeting a 2021 start date.
For more information on Kevin Smith and all his upcoming projects head over to ThatKevinSmithClub.com and be sure to check out That’s My Entertainment’s podcast, “An Askewed View” wherever you listen to podcasts!
Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr., affectionately known as Jr NTR, has consistently enthralled audiences with his dynamic performances and versatile acting prowess. Following the successful release of “Devara: Part 1” on September 27, 2024, fans are eagerly anticipating his forthcoming projects. Here’s an overview of what’s next for this action superstar.
1. Devara: Part 2
After the resounding success of “Devara: Part 1,” which grossed over ₹466 crore globally, the sequel is highly anticipated. Director Koratala Siva has hinted that “Devara: Part 2” will be even more intense, stating that if Part 1 showcased 10% of Jr NTR’s capabilities, Part 2 will unveil the remaining 90%. Filming is slated to commence in the first half of 2026, with a targeted release by the end of that year.
2. War 2
Expanding his horizons, Jr NTR is set to make his Hindi film debut with “War 2,” directed by Ayan Mukerji. This sequel to the 2019 blockbuster “War” will see him sharing screen space with Hrithik Roshan and Kiara Advani. The film is part of the YRF Spy Universe and is scheduled for release on August 14, 2025, coinciding with the Indian Independence Day weekend.
3. NTR 31 (Tentative Title: Dragon)
In collaboration with acclaimed director Prashanth Neel, Jr NTR will star in a period drama tentatively titled “Dragon.” The film is set to delve into themes of immigration and is expected to be one of the most expensive projects for both the actor and the director. The movie is slated for a grand release on January 9, 2026.
Why Jr NTR is the Action Hero Everyone Wants to See
Jr NTR’s appeal as an action hero stems from his ability to seamlessly blend intense physicality with deep emotional resonance. His performances are characterized by a compelling screen presence, dynamic energy, and a remarkable ability to connect with audiences across diverse roles. This unique combination of skills has solidified his status as a leading figure in Indian cinema, making him the action hero everyone wants to see.
With a lineup of diverse and high-profile projects, Jr NTR continues to push cinematic boundaries and captivate audiences worldwide. His dedication to his craft and ability to reinvent himself with each role ensure that fans have much to look forward to in the coming years.
Headed to a wilderness retreat of a wealthy pharmaceutical CEO to hopefully land a lucrative job, widower Elliot and his reluctant daughter Ridley manage to have a car accident with a heretofore-thought creature out of legend, and hijinks ensue!
Oh this is an absolute gem of a movie y’all, brought to you by the genius minds of film production company A24, a delightful blend of horror and campy, almost idiotic, comedy. Make sure your seatbelt is buckled and let’s dive into this!
So Ridley (Jenna Ortega) is you typical teenager, angsty and missing her passed-on mother, full of acne troubles and secretly vaping while her dad Elliot (Paul Rudd) ignores her for much more than appearance purposes, while he schmoozes his way into the good graces of the family they’re going to stay with. Elliot ignores everything but his continued greed, for both money and continuous stability for him and Ridley, really, he swears, so when the misty mountains cause their electronics to go haywire and Elliot’s busy with that crisis, he doesn’t notice until it’s too late and BAM. You’ve hit an actual unicorn with your car.
Like most girls, Ridley can’t help but be fascinated by the poor mythical horse-like creature, and of course she reaches out to grasp the glowing horn, filling her head full of magic and her eyes full of stars and the cosmos, while Elliot has a much more, let’s say visceral, reaction. But rather than calling, I dunno, some sort of wildlife preserve or the cops or even considering burying the unfortunate horned horse, no, the baby is loaded like a downed stag into the back of Elliott’s car and they hurry on to the CEO’s wilderness retreat.
It makes sense that the changes to Ridley’s appearance are the first thing that allows O’Dell (Richard E. Grant) and his greedy, grasping family to understand that the body of the unicorn has healing properties. Wife Belinda (Tea Leoni) is your typical utterly vapid socialite who helps the poor downtrodden of whatever’s currently popular third world country, not for the do-gooder part of it, but for the optics. And their son Shepard (Will Poulter) is a walking poster boy for the arrogant frat boy type who could never settle on just one thing to be or do, and so he tries them all – archery, photography, mixology, music and various forms of pharmaceuticals, all while sporting these terrible fashion choices in shorts and rambling proudly about his nonexistent accomplishments. Griff (Anthony Carrigan) is the family butler and general verbal punching bag, and let us not forget the unfortunate pair of doctoral research scientists who get called in to examine the unicorn, Dr. Song (Steve Park) and Dr. Bhatia (Sunita Mani).
So we have a family of covetous types who all want to divy the unicorn up and sell its various parts for as much wealth and power as they can get, plus the pair of scientists who are flabbergasted to find themselves dissecting an actual unicorn that, hey, guess what, isn’t actually dead for really-real yet. Elliott’s trying to procure his and Ridley’s slice of the action, though honestly, his lawyerly powers of persuasion seem to be rather lacking in this regard, while Ridley is off doing some actual research on medieval unicorns and what the ancient legends in tapestries had to say about them. You know how the modern genie, with his Arabian lamp and his three wishes with their horrifically ironic consequences, actually stems from the ancient legend of that old monster, the creature born from fire that wants nothing more than to destroy all human life on Earth, the Djinn? Our modern legends and beliefs about unicorns is kinda like that.
So everyone, even our scientists with their experiments and O’Dell supposedly being an experienced animal hunter, seems to have forgotten that a horse is a mammal and therefore, has parents. And while everyone is concerning themselves with what to use the babies’ various parts for, only Ridley seems to have realized, that the babies’ sire and dam are coming for it!
We all know horses are smart, and that humans and horses can form an almost mythical bond, but when a stallion or even a dam’s ire is raised, they can attack and defend just as well as any rampaging beast, and do present a very real and dire threat. And these particular horses, with their shaggy midnight-black coats and hooves the size of monster-truck hubcaps, their fangs and absolute righteous rage at their baby being stolen, not to mention both mom and dad’s inherently magical nature, and those utterly badass war-unicorn horns, are here to wreak utter destruction and death upon the humans that would dare to eat, drink and snort, their baby!
Full of utterly ridiculous fun with human greed and the scarcely-remembered wonder of those magical creatures you heard about as a child, cheer along with the Jurassic Park-like screech of our rampaging parents to save their baby, in Death of a Unicorn, in theaters now!
Upcoming NTR Junior projects
“Death of a Unicorn: A24’s Twisted Fairytale You Won’t Forget”
WonderCon 2025: A Faith Full Dickens Tale & The King of Kings Animated Movie
WonderCon 2025: Fade to Black Interviews
Top 10 Unexpected Movies Where The Bad Guy Wins
