The MadHouse

The sequel to the 1999 surprising hit was once again directed and written by Stephen Sommers and sees all the original cast return and are joined by Freddie Boath, Alun Armstrong, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) in his first feature film. A decade after the events of the previous film, Rick O’Connell and his now wife Evie are back for another adventure. When an ancient bracelet is stolen by a mysterious cult, they must venture across the desert to stop them from using it to raise the “Army of Anubis” and rule the world. Despite receiving mixed reviews, the film still had huge success at the box office and would see a prequel spinoff film the following year.

This film was written & directed by Stephen Sommers and it is a remake of the 1937 original film of the same name. The film stars Brendon Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oder Fehr & Patricia Velasquez. In 1926, adventurer, Rick O’Connell joins an aspiring Egyptologist and her brother to find an ancient Egyptian city in the desert but accidentally awaken an ancient evil priest who was mummified 3000 years earlier and now plans reek havoc on this new world. Originally pitched as a horror film, Universal went with Sommers’ script which paid homage to the original film as well as the “Indiana Jones” films and was more action adventure. The film was well received by critics and scored big at the box office which why they would release 2 more sequels in 2001 & 2008 as well as a prequel spin off film in 2002.

The WWE’s latest event was held at the Superdome in Saudi Arabia. This event saw the conclusion of the World Heavyweight Championship tournament as Seth Rollins took on “The Phenomenal One” AJ Styles, Bianca Belair defended the Raw Women’s Championship against “The Empress of Tomorrow”, Asuka, the Intercontinental champion, Gunther, put the title on the line against Mustafa Ali and Rhea Ripley defends her Smackdown Women’s Championship against “The Queen of Harts”, Natalya. Becky Lynch looks to even the score against WWE Hall of Famer, Trish Stratus. In a rematch of their bloody encounter at the last PPV, “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes faces off with “The Beast” Brock Lesnar. In the main event, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn defend the Undisputed Tag Team Championships against Solo Sikoa and the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns.

The 6th film in this franchise was directed by Tim Miller & produced by the returning, James Cameron. Arnold Schwarzenegger & Linda Hamilton both return as well to their respective roles and are joined by Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes & Gabriel Luna. Taking place after the events of the 2nd film, a young girl is targeted by another prototype, the Rev-9, to prevent another world ending event until an “augmented soldier” is also sent to protect her. Unfortunately, this film bombed at the box office and once again saw all future sequels cancelled despite the solid action sequences and performances.

The 5th film in this franchise was the first in the reboot series following the change in production studios. After original production company, Halycon, filed for bankruptcy in 2011, the film rights were picked by Skydance who proceeded to reboot the series. This film would be directed by Alan Taylor and sees the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The main cast included Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, Jason Clarke, Courtney B. Vance & J.K. Simmons. This film retcons the events of 3 and 4 and takes place during and after the events the first 2 film. Kyle Reese is sent to intercept a Terminator in 1984 and save Sarah Connor but things take an unexpected turn when Sarah and another Terminator arrive to save Reese from 2 separate Terminators altogether. Because of this incursion, the timeline is askew and now Sarah, Reese and the Terminator must stick together to stop a new prototype cyborg that has taken the form of Sarah’s son, John. Despite making huge profits at the box office, the film’s critical reception was mostly negative which caused Skydance to cancel further sequels.

This film is based on the popular board game series and was written & directed by Johnathon Goldstein & John Francis Daley. This is the fourth film based on this board game following the original trilogy released in 2000, 2005 & 2012, however it is no way connected. The film stars Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith, Rege-Jean Page, Sophia Lillis & Hugh Grant. The movie centers around a group of small time thieves who are trying saved one of their loved ones but get sidetracked when one of their own betrays them. Now, they must venture out to save their loved ones and stop the former friend from wrecking havoc on the world.

The 11th film in this franchise was directed by a newcomer, Lewis Leterrier and sees most of the original cast returning and being joined by the likes of Brie Larson, Jason Mamoa, Alan Ritchson, Rita Moreno & Daniela Melchior. This is supposedly the first part of the final chapter but who really knows at this point. This movie was co written by former director, Justin Lin.

The fourth film in this franchise is first and only film not starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. This film was directed by McG and stars Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Bryce Dallas Howard, Common, Moon Bloodgood, Anton Yelon, Helena Bohnam Carter & Michael Ironside. 15 years after the events of the previous film, the war against the machine has begun and John Connor is preparing his resistance fighters for war but things take an unexpected turn when a mysterious stranger appears with crucial information regarding the whereabouts of a teenager by the name of Kyle Reese. This film was supposed to be the first chapter in a new trilogy but this last under the production company, Halcyon Company, as they would file for bankruptcy in 2012, forgoing those plans.

This Amazon original film hit theaters in April of this year and then dropped on Prime Video this past weekend. The movie stars Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker, Marlon Wayans, Viola Davis & Ben Afleck. In the year 1984, the shoe company, Nike, is on the downfall and must score big in their basketball division with a new face for the company to launch a new line of shoes. The company’s basketball expert quickly begins to zero in on a kid from the University of North Carolina by the name of Michael Jordan. Ben Afleck also directed and produced this film with Matt Damon. Although, Michael Jordan is not predominantly in the film, he did have influence behind the scenes, including having Viola Davis play his mother. This film did very well at the South by SouthWest Festival in March of 2023 which caused the studio to then release it in theaters.

This is the 3rd film in the series and sees Arnold Schwarzenegger return as the titular character with newcomers Nick Stahl, Claire Danes & Kristanna Loken. This film, as well as the rest of the series, would not feature James Cameron as writer or director. This film was directed by Johnathon Mostow. In this film, John Connor is uncertain about his future following the events the previous film, but it all comes to a head when another T-800 is sent back through time to protect him and a female survivor. Along with the T-800, a new prototype terminator, the T-X, is also sent to kill Connor and a few selected members of his future resistance team. In this episode, we also cover the some of tie in media such as, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” a series that ran from 2008 - 2009 & stars Lena Headey and takes place between the 2nd & 3rd films, and then the video game, “Terminator: Dawn of Fate” which serves as prequel to the original 1984 film.