Las Vegas— Prepare to fear James McAvoy. He played a heroic X-Men member and a complex enemy in M. Night Shyamalan's "Split," but in "Speak No Evil" (in theaters Sept. 13), a remake of a terrifying 2022 Danish psychological thriller, the Scottish actor plays a nasty yet seductive villain.
The Universal film's first trailer, presented Wednesday at CinemaCon, the theater owners and studios conference, shows seemingly lovely couple Paddy (McAvoy) and Ciara (Aisling Franciosi) join Louise (Mackenzie Davis), Ben (Scoot McNairy), and their kids on an Italian holiday They get along so well that Paddy invites them to a weekend vacation, which goes awry when Louise and Ben leave.
Paddy is a wonderful, boisterous friend, host, and father, but not that. At all," director James Watkins stated, calling the film "like summer camp with a small deviant edge."
Universal, Hollywood's original horror house, has several scary films coming out. With 2020's "The Invisible Man" and "Wolf Man" (due Jan. 25), director Leigh Whannell modernizes a Universal monster. Christopher Abbott plays a dad who is struck by a creature while protecting his family and becomes hideous. Theater owners witnessed the first glimpses of that and Robert Eggers' gloomy, cold "Nosferatu," a recreation of the 1922 silent film.
Universal also announced that Jason Blum will develop a "M3GAN" sequel next year and a "Five Nights at Freddy's" sequel in fall 2025. People may ask why I made this movie. Director Lee Isaac Chung asked CinemaCon attendees during a "Twisters" presentation (released July 19). The "Minari" director makes indie films, not sequels to 1990s blockbusters, but "it felt like the scariest thing to do in my life."
The personal explanation was that Chung grew up in rural Arkansas, where tornadoes were common and he learned to hide and run. He liked the 1996 "Twister" because "people were running at a tornado instead of running away." Bill Paxton had a flying cow and "cinematic Mount Rushmore as a kid."
Chung worked with scientists to develop an immersive big-screen experience for "Twisters" to seem real. "There’s a lot of pessimism about the environment," Chung said, vowing to "bring a sense of awe and wonder about the natural world" to viewers.
Stars Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Anthony Ramos joined the director. Powell explained how a jet engine was utilized to create gusts that blew trash and debris at them during filming, which led to a stage comedy featuring wind machines and a stuffed cow thrown at Ramos.
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