Merlin Coleford January/February 2025 by ONSCREEN Magazine

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2025

WELCOME

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2025

New year, new movies... and there’s many cinema treats to enjoy. Go on, take a bite.

Beloved characters, sing and whistle-along classics, and everlasting magic awaits as Disney retell their first-ever fairytale like never before, with Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen and Rachel Zegler as Snow White.

True love’s not only for Disney Princesses. We Live In Time chronicles a lifetime of romance between Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield before things get steamier as Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson engage in an unforgettable fling in Babygirl. Cinema’s most beloved singleton is back to make this year’s Valentine’s extra special, too, as Renée Zellweger returns in Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy.

There’s incredible true stories as Timothée Chalamet transforms for Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, Angelina Jolie stars in the life story of an opera icon in Maria, and two moments in TV history are immortalised in Saturday Night and September 5.

From real terror to onscreen scares, Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu and Blumhouse’s Wolf Man resurrect two classic horror icons before Ryan Coogler unleashes his bold, terrifying new vision of fear in Sinners.

Of course, there’s the main event for MCU fans as Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson aka Captain America enters a Brave New World.

What a start to the year. Heigh-Ho, it’s off to the cinema we go!

Lee Curtis Editor

ONSCREEN

ROLL CREDITS:

Editors Craig May, Lee Curtis

Contributors Aaron Potter, Adam Matulewicz, Charlotte Blacklock, Chloe Howard, Hannah Taylor,

4 2

The eyes have it! Name the eight famous faces that appear in an upcoming film. ANSWERS 1 3 7 ? ? 5 8

1. Timothée Chalamet / 2. Florence Pugh / 3. Gal Gadot / 4. Red Hulk (Harrison Ford) /

5. Michael B. Jordan / 6. Nicole Kidman / 7. Angelina Jolie / 8. Renée Zellweger

THE UNMISSABLE NEW RELEASES

THE BALLAD OF A TRUE ORIGINAL

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN

IN CINEMAS 17 JANUARY

Director James Mangold / Starring Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Monica Barbaro / Genre Biography, Drama

Academy Award-nominee Timothée Chalamet is Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s much-anticipated biopic of the American folk-rock legend. Set in the influential New York music scene of the early sixties, A Complete Unknown follows nineteen-year-old Minnesota musician Bob Dylan’s meteoric rise as a folk singer to concert halls and the top of the charts – his songs and mystique becoming a worldwide sensation – culminating in his groundbreaking electric rock and roll performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.

Dog Man

IN CINEMAS 7 FEBRUARY

DreamWorks Animation’s adaptation of the bestselling literary phenomenon tells the story of a faithful police dog and his human police officer owner, who are fused together and become the canine-crime-fighter: Dog Man.

Love Hurts

IN CINEMAS 7 FEBRUARY

Ke Huy Quan rockets into his first major leading man role as an unlikely hero with a dark secret he’s desperate to leave behind in a high-octane revenge story from the producers of Nobody, Bullet Train, and The Fall Guy.

Last Breath

IN CINEMAS 28 FEBRUARY

Based on an incredible true story, Woody Harrelson stars in a heart-pounding thriller that follows deep-sea divers as they battle raging elements to rescue their crewmate trapped hundreds of feet below the ocean’s surface.

WE LIVE IN TIME EVERY MINUTE COUNTS

IN CINEMAS 1 JANUARY

Director John Crowley / Starring Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh / Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance

A love story about the times that change us, and the times that make us pairs Academy Award-nominees Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh as Almut and Tobias, strangers brought together in a surprise encounter that changes their lives. Through snapshots of their life together – falling for each other, building a home, and becoming a family – an incredibly difficult truth is revealed that rocks its foundation. As they embark on a path challenged by the limits of time, they learn to cherish each moment of the unconventional route their love story has taken in acclaimed filmmaker John Crowley’s decade-spanning, deeply moving romance.

A Real Pain

IN CINEMAS 8 JANUARY

Writer-director Jesse Eisenberg and Succession’s Kieran Culkin star as mismatched cousins who reunite for a tour through Poland to honour their beloved grandmother in this tragicomic road movie.

The Monkey

IN CINEMAS 21 FEBRUARY

An adaptation of the Stephen King short story from the writer-director of Longlegs follows twin brothers who explore the link between a series of mysterious deaths and their father’s old monkey toy in their attic.

Vicious

IN CINEMAS 28 FEBRUARY

Dakota Fanning stars as a young woman who must spend the night fighting for her existence as she slips down a disturbing rabbit hole contained inside a mysterious gift she receives from a late-night visitor.

Nosferatu

IN CINEMAS 1 JANUARY

Director Robert Eggers / Starring Emma Corrin, Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson / Genre Horror

The visionary director of The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman returns with a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman in nineteenth century Germany and the ancient, evil Transylvanian vampire who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him. Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu stars Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, and Willem Dafoe, with Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok.

Flight Risk

IN CINEMAS 24 JANUARY

Director Mel Gibson / Starring Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery, Topher Grace / Genre Action, Crime, Thriller

There’s no escape at ten-thousand feet in the high-stakes suspense thriller from Mel Gibson, the award-winning director of Braveheart, Apocalypto, and Hacksaw Ridge. Academy Award-nominee Mark Wahlberg stars as a pilot who’s tasked with transporting an Air Marshal and the fugitive she’s accompanying to trial. As they cross over the Alaskan wilderness, tensions soar and trust is tested, as not everyone on board is who they seem.

DECADE. NEW DIARY

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy

IN CINEMAS 13

FEBRUARY

Director Michael Morris / Starring Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, Emma Thompson, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones / Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance

Bridget is back, and alone once again. Widowed four years ago, she’s now a single mother to her and Mark Darcy’s two children, raising them with help from her loyal friends and even her former lover, Daniel Cleaver. Pressured by her friends, family, and gynaecologist to forge a new path in life and love, Bridget goes back to work and even tries out the dating apps. The world’s most beloved singleton soon finds herself in a familiar position, between two suitors: a dreamy and enthusiastic younger man and her son’s rational-to-a-fault science teacher.

Babygirl

IN CINEMAS 10 JANUARY

Director Halina Reijn / Starring Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson / Genre Mystery, Romance, Thriller

Nicole Kidman stars as a successful, high-powered CEO, Romy, who puts her career, family, and personal life on the line when she begins a torrid affair with her new, much younger intern, Samuel, portrayed by Harris Dickinson. Power dynamics become a plaything for the pair in the intense erotic thriller from writer-director Halina Reijn that also includes Sophie Wilde and Antonio Banderas.

FUTURE FAVOURS THE BRAVE

Captain America: Brave New World

IN CINEMAS 14 FEBRUARY

Director Julius Onah / Starring Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Giancarlo Esposito, Danny Ramirez, Liv Tyler, Shira Haas, Tim Blake Nelson / Genre Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Sam Wilson, the former Falcon, is still adjusting to life as Captain America. After meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, Sam finds himself in the middle of an international incident. Now, he must uncover the truth behind a nefarious global plot before the mastermind has the entire world seeing red. The thrilling new chapter in the MCU stars Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Xosha Roquemore, Carl Lumbly, with Giancarlo Esposito, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and Harrison Ford.

HARD TRUTHS THE TIES THAT BIND

IN CINEMAS 31 JANUARY

Director Mike Leigh / Starring Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, David Webber / Genre Comedy, Drama

Following his historical epics Mr Turner and Peterloo, legendary British filmmaker Mike Leigh returns to the contemporary world with a fierce, compassionate, and often darkly humorous study of family. Reunited with Leigh for the first time since multiple Oscar-nominated and BAFTAwinning Secrets & Lies, the astonishing Marianne JeanBaptiste plays Pansy, a woman wracked by fear, tormented by afflictions, and prone to raging tirades against her husband, son, and anyone who looks her way. Meanwhile, her easy-going younger sister, played by Michele Austin, is a single mother with a life as different from Pansy’s as their clashing temperaments. This expansive film from a master dramatist explores the intensities of kinship, duty, and the most enduring of human mysteries: that even through hurt and hardship, we can still love the ones that we call family.

Here

IN CINEMAS 17 JANUARY

Tom Hanks and Robin Wright star in Robert Zemeckis’ Here, an ambitious story showing the goings-on on a singular plot of land across all of human history from the reunited director, writer, and stars of Forrest Gump.

Presence

IN CINEMAS 24 JANUARY

A family moves into a suburban house and becomes convinced that they’re not alone as Oscar-winner Steven Soderbergh unleashes an all-new kind of haunted house horror, starring Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, and Julia Fox.

Companion

IN CINEMAS 31 JANUARY

It’s love at first sight for Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid as the studio that brought you The Notebook, the unhinged creators of Barbarian, and writer-director Drew Hancock invite you to experience a new kind of love story.

Wolf Man

IN CINEMAS 17 JANUARY

Director Leigh Whannell / Starring Julia Garner, Christopher Abbott, Matilda Firth, Sam Jaeger / Genre Horror, Thriller

During a trip to rural Oregon, a family is attacked by an unseen animal in the dead of night and, in a desperate escape, barricade themselves inside their remote farmhouse while the creature prowls the perimeter. As the night stretches on, husband and father Blake begins to behave strangely and transform into an unrecognisable horror in a terrifying new lupine nightmare from the creators of the modern monster tale The Invisible Man.

September 5

IN CINEMAS 7 FEBRUARY

Director Tim Fehlbaum / Starring Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin, Leonie Benesch / Genre History, Thriller

Set during the 1972 Munich Olympics, an American Sports broadcasting team must quickly adapt from sports reporting when its young and ambitious producer unexpectedly takes the helm of the live coverage of the Israeli athletes taken hostage. Through this lens, September 5 provides a fresh, unseen perspective on the live broadcast seen globally by an estimated one billion people at the time that changed media coverage forever.

Saturday Night

IN CINEMAS 31 JANUARY

Director Jason Reitman / Starring Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Ella Hunt / Genre Biography, Comedy, Drama

At 11:30pm on October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television, and culture, forever. Saturday Night is based on the true story of what happened behind the scenes in the ninety minutes leading up to the first-ever broadcast of Saturday Night Live. Full of humour, chaos, and the magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, count down the minutes in real time until those famous words.

Marching Powder

IN CINEMAS 7 MARCH

Director Nick Love / Starring Danny Dyer, Stephanie Leonid, Callum Macnab, Arty Dyer / Genre Action, Comedy, Crime

Return to the irreverent and profane world of The Football Factory for the story of Jack Jones, an ageing football hooligan who feels increasingly irrelevant in today’s society. Juggling his marriage, his mates, and his unhinged in-laws, Jack tries to get his life back on-track but sees his world spiral out of control in the long-anticipated reunion of director Nick Love and long-term collaborator and national treasure Danny Dyer.

Maria

IN CINEMAS 10 JANUARY

Director Pablo Larraín / Starring Angelina Jolie, Haluk Bilginer, Valeria Golino / Genre Biography, Drama

Angela Jolie is Maria Callas in the tumultuous, beautiful, and tragic story of the world’s greatest female opera singer, relived and reimagined during her final days in 1970s Paris. From the acclaimed director of Jackie and Spencer, Pablo Larraín, and writer Steven Knight, Maria also features Pierfrancesco Favino, Alba Rohrwacher, Haluk Bilginer, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Valeria Golino.

Sinners

IN CINEMAS 7 MARCH

Director Ryan Coogler / Starring Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell / Genre Horror, Thriller

Michael B. Jordan stars in a new vision of fear from the director of Creed and Black Panther. Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to find an even greater evil waits to welcome them. Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, Sinners stars Jordan in a dual role alongside Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, and Omar Benson Miller.

There’s perhaps no greater enigma in music than Bob Dylan, but that’s a-changin’ as a brand-new musical biopic brings the story of his early days to the big screen.

WORDS

SCOTT J. DAVIS

A Complete Unknown

IN CINEMAS 17 JANUARY

Director James Mangold / Starring Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Monica Barbaro, Elle Fanning / Genre Biography, Drama, Musical

Is it truly awards season until we get a noteworthy, highly-anticipated biopic about a famous musician? There have been plenty over the years, but it was the massive box-office triumph of Bohemian Rhapsody that set things rolling like a stone. Since then, the stories of Whitney Houston, Elvis Presley, Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Bob Marley, and even Weird Al Yankovic have all been immortalised onscreen.

Audience’s appetite for a grand musical biopic remains as big as ever, so it’s no surprise that the great Bob Dylan would be next in line.

Starring Timothée Chalamet as the legendary folk musician, Walk The Line director

James Mangold’s new film focuses on a late-teenage Dylan’s incredible rise as an acoustic singer and his controversial switch to electric instrumentation. It also documents his famously fractious partnership with Edward Norton’s Pete Seeger and working/romantic relationships with Monica Barbaro’s Joan Baez and Elle Fanning’s Sylvie Russo –a fictional version of Suze Rotolo.

Prepare for a true transportation back to the sixties in both look and sound, with all of the main cast singing the songs themselves in this musical biopic that’s set for awards glory.

THE BEATLES

Biopics Blowin’ In The Wind

JacksonMichael

Oscar-winner Sam Mendes is shaking up the standard biopic with a unique and unorthodox look at the lives of The Famous Four – John, Paul, George, and Ringo – in four separate films, one from each member’s point of view before they Come Together.

The Bee Gees

Set to be titled You Should Be Dancing, a biopic of the famous Isle of Man brothers has been mooted for a few years, but has now landed at Ridley Scott’s desk and is set to be released in 2026.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the aptly named Michael charts the rise to fame of the King of Pop, played by Michael’s nephew, Jaafar Jackson. Colman Domingo, Nia Long and Miles Teller co-star.

MIRROR MIRROR

Experience where the Disney magic began in an enchanting live-action take on their first-ever film that’ll leave you whistling while you work and long after the credits roll.

Disney’s Snow White

IN CINEMAS 21 MARCH

Director Marc Webb / Starring Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap / Genre Fantasy, Musical, Romance

It’s Disney’s oldest tale of all time, just as you remember it, but as you’ve never seen it before as the first-ever Disney princess enchants screens again.

Snow White, the fairest princess of them all, is banished to the forest after her Evil Stepmother, the Queen, is threatened by her beauty. Lost and alone, apart from some kind-hearted animal companions, she’s taken in by seven caring strangers – though not all of them are happy about it.

Grumpy, Dopey, Sleepy, Sneezy, Bashful, Happy, and of course Doc all join Snow White’s story as she’s fooled by the Evil Queen. Tricked into eating a poisoned apple, she’s sent into a deep sleep and

her only hope is true love’s kiss. Hopefully, someday, her Prince Charming will come.

Jump into the magical world of Snow White once more with West Side Story’s Rachel Zeigler in the starring role, Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen, and Andrew Burnap as Jonathan – a Prince Charming if you’ve ever seen one. What more could you want? Join this spellbinding cast on an old adventure retold into one that’s brought to new life with magic, friendship, and love.

Will Snow White get her true love’s kiss? Only time will tell…

True Love’s Kiss

The surefire cure to any princesses’ curse, true love’s kiss has woken many sleeping maidens from their slumber.

Princess Aurora

She got the name Sleeping Beauty after falling victim to Maleficent’s evil curse and pricking her finger on a spinning needle. Now she’s lost in a long sleep until true love’s kiss awakes her.

Princess Fiona

Princess by day, ogre by night. Banished to a tower guarded by a fearsome dragon, Fiona awaits true love’s kiss break the spell. Her knight in shining armour is actually someone meaner… and greener.

Giselle

Enchanted’s Giselle is sent to New York City by the Evil Queen. In order to return to the fantasy land of Andalasia, she must find true love’s kiss.

ON YOUR LEFT Sam’s SoStory Far

The Falcon has flown his coop and fully taken up Steve Rogers’ shield, now Sam Wilson faces his first true test as Captain America. WORDS AARON POTTER

Captain America: Brave New World

IN CINEMAS 14 FEBRUARY

Director Julius Onah / Starring Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Giancarlo Esposito, Tim Blake Nelson / Genre Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

While the Multiverse Saga has remained dominant since Iron Man’s SNAP, the MCU appears primed to take a more back-to-basics approach. In addition to being Anthony Mackie’s feature-length debut as Cap, his first assignment sees the franchise return to a storyline of intrigue and espionage at ground level, where a new global threat emerges from right under the U.S. government’s nose.

Joining Mackie’s Sam Wilson is Hollywood legend Harrison Ford,

who replaces the late William Hurt as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, now without his iconic moustache but filled with a red-fuelled rage burning to break free. Ross wants to use his platform as the newly-elected U.S. president to militarise Captain America once again, meaning it’s only a matter of time before they butt heads.

Also making a long-awaited MCU return is Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel Stern, last seen all the way back in The Incredible Hulk. Having been contaminated with Bruce Banner’s blood previously, his villain will serve as the brains to Red Hulk’s brawn, forcing Sam into a fight on all fronts – especially with Giancarlo Esposito’s leader of the Serpent Society, Sidewinder, on the scene, too.

Brave New World? Only if Captain America can save it first!

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Shield being a cover for Hydra means stakes are sky high on Anthony Mackie’s first outing as Sam Wilson aka The Falcon, who quickly solidifies himself as Steve Rogers’ most trusted ally.

Captain America: Civil War

With Bucky Barnes back and in the frame for murder, Sam’s high-flying antics are needed more than ever. He’s full Team Cap when the Avengers are ripped apart and must choose sides.

The Falcon And The Winter Soldier

Following Steve Rogers’ retirement in the wake of Endgame, Sam wrestles with how best to continue Captain America’s legacy. In the end, he chooses to do so in his own way: keeping his wings and sky-high fighting spirit.

WICKED GAMES

Positions of power in the workplace are reversed when Nicole Kidman’s high-powered CEO begins a steamy affair with Harris Dickinson’s dashing intern. WORDS AARON POTTER

Babygirl

IN CINEMAS 10 JANUARY

Director Halina Reijn / Starring Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Antonio Banderas / Genre Romance, Thriller

Nicole Kidman is Romy, a highranking CEO in the professional business world whose sexual wants and needs are called into question the moment she locks eyes with Samuel, the young and handsome new intern who joins her company. Sparks inevitably fly, but it isn’t long before lines blur with regards to who of the two has the real power in their relationship.

Up and coming British star Harris Dickinson – of The King’s Man, Triangle Of Sadness, and The Iron Claw fame – stars as the dishy new employee with a penchant for telling Kidman’s boss what to say and do, and not only within the confines of the bedroom. Slowly but surely, he works his way deeper into her personal life, putting her marriage to Antonio Banderas’ Jacob into jeopardy.

After wowing audiences with a sharp, pointed murder mystery/ black comedy mashup Bodies Bodies Bodies, writer-director Halina Reijn returns to sate the appetite of erotic thriller fans who’ve been somewhat starved of late. The pitfalls of engaging in a forbidden office romance are laid bare in a new erotic thriller with two standout lead performances and lashings of sexual intrigue and tension.

EyesWideShut

Stanley Kubrick’s final film sees Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s fraught couple try to save their marriage by engaging in an unusual night-long escapade.

KnockKnock

Ana De Armas and Lorenza Izzo are the two dangerous seductresses who play a deadly game on Keanu Reeves’ unfaithful family man while he’s home alone. What he does leaves him up to his neck in trouble.

Deep Water

Ben Affleck is the doting husband who finds himself in hot water after his polyamorous wife’s former lovers begin to disappear and he becomes the prime suspect.

“NICOLE KIDMAN AND HARRIS DICKINSON ARE MAGNIFICENT” “UTTERLY THRILLING AND FEARLESS ”

“AN EXPLOSIVE GAME OF SEDUC TION”

“DELICIOUS, SPIKY, SEXY, AND DARING ”

“THE MOST DELIRIOUSLY ENTERTAINING, HOTTEST EROTIC THRILLER IN AGES”

NIGHT FEVER

Discover the real-life, behind-the-scenes story of the first-ever episode of America’s bestloved late-night TV show. Live from your local cinema, it’s... WORDS AARON POTTER

Saturday Night

IN CINEMAS 31 JANUARY

Director Jason Reitman / Starring

Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Dylan O’Brien, Cory Michael Smith / Genre Biography, Comedy, Drama

Will Ferrell. Adam Sandler. Eddie Murphy. Just some of the worldfamous comedians who owe their big break to Saturday Night Live, the pioneering sketch comedy show that first aired some fifty years ago. October 11th, 1975. It’s the events on this faithful night that forms the basis of Jason Reitman’s appropriately chaotic and madcap biographical drama. Saturday Night recounts how it all comes together in the ninety minutes leading up to broadcast from the perspective of the show’s creator and producer, the legendary Lorne Michaels.

The Fabelmans breakout star Gabriel LaBelle plays Michaels, who, in just an hour-and-a-half, needs to wrestle together a troupe of wild young comedians while under the scrutiny of several NBC executives that expect the show to fail. To tell this unbelievable true story – and in real-time – Reitman assembles a who’s who of modern Hollywood stars to portray the would-be future Hollywood A-listers… not that they knew it back then.

It may seem like a tell that’ll land best with audiences across the pond, but with reviews from its premiere so rave, it’s best to not miss this chance to relive perhaps the most important night in comedy, ever.

They’ve Got A Great Show For You

Gabriel LaBelle is Lorne Michaels

Rachel Sennott is Rosie Shuster

Dylan O’Brien is Dan Aykroyd

Cory Michael Smith is Chevy Chase

Ella Hunt is Gilda Radner

Nicholas Braun is Jim Henson & Andy Kaufman

Matt Wood is John Belushi

Nicholas Podany is Billy Crystal

Cooper Hoffman is Dick Ebersol

Lamorne Morris is Garrett Morris

Kim Matula is Jane Curtin

Taylor Gray is Al Franken

Andrew Barth Feldman is Neil Levy

Kaia Gerber is Jacqueline Carlin

Emily Fairn is Laraine Newman

Jon Batiste is Billy Preston

Willem Dafoe is Dave Tebet

Matthew Rhys is George Carlin

J.K. Simmons is Milton Berle

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

Stardom, toxic relationships, health problems, and media frenzy. Discover the life behind the voice of a century as Angelina Jolie stars in the story of opera legend, Maria Callas.

WORDS HANNAH TAYLOR

Maria

IN CINEMAS 10 JANUARY

Director Pablo Larraín / Starring Angelina Jolie, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Haluk Bilginer, Valeria Golino / Genre Biography, Drama, Music

Known as one of the best and most controversial singers of the twentieth century, Maria Callas’ diva demands, love affairs, and fierce public rivalry with fellow opera legend Renata Tebaldi constantly made headlines. Maria’s tumultuous life in the spotlight was certain to take its toll. This reflection on a career of superstardom boasts an ensemble cast as Maria’s family and famous historical figures she encounters, including Caspar Philipson as JFK; Haluk Bilginer as Maria’s toxic love interest, Aristotle Onassis; and Valeria Golino as Maria’s sister, Yakinthi. Depicting younger Maria is shared by Aggelina Papadopoulou and Christiana Aloneftis, while Kodi Smit-McPhee takes the intriguing role of Mandrax, a personification of the sedative medication Maria takes.

Academy Award-winning director Pablo Larraín is a virtuoso when it comes to bringing celebrity life stories

to the screen, having previously helmed acclaimed biopics of Princess Diana in Spencer and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in Jackie. Pairing with Peaky Blinders writer Steven Knight, they showcase the legendary singer’s last days as she accustoms to seclusion in Paris, losing her incomparable voice, and closing the curtain on a life as the world’s greatest opera singer.

The Power Of Music

Cinema sings high praise for opera films showing that when the red curtain opens, they command the stage and screen.

The Phantom Of The Opera

Based on the original French novel and adapted from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s stage sensation, this darkly romantic opera follows Gerard Butler’s masked musical genius living beneath the Paris Opera House and his obsession with a young opera singer.

Florence Foster Jenkins

Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant star in the hilarious story of the heiress who wants to fulfil her dreams of becoming a famous opera singer… despite her terrible voice. With the support of her devoted husband, she prepares to perform at the famous Carnegie Hall despite all the odds against her.

ON AIR

Tensions run high in the sports newsroom in a nail-biting thriller that tells the true story of the first terror attack to be broadcast on live television. WORDS CHLOE HOWARD

September 5

IN CINEMAS 7 FEBRUARY

Director Tim Fehlbaum / Starring Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro, Ben Chaplin / Genre History, Thriller

The 1972 Munich Olympics were notable as the first on German soil since the Second World War, but also as the first to ever be broadcast to television audiences around the world via global satellite. The stage is set for a day that will change media coverage forever.

The competition was heating up between the Olympic greats of their day, but everything was soon overshadowed by shocking events that made headlines around the world. A hostage crisis involving Israeli athletes and Black September Palestinian terrorists halted the Games, but the cameras kept rolling.

It’s a harrowing story told and retold many times onscreen and most famously in Steven Spielberg’s Munich. Now, fifty-three years on from the horrific events, it’s brought to life once more, but from a whole new perspective.

September 5 tells the story through the eyes of the American broadcasting team who face moral, ethical, political, and emotional dilemmas of whether or not they should show the world the events unfolding around them. With Peter Sarsgaard, Ben Chaplin, and John Magaro among the star-studded cast, follow the palpably tense events as the sports team make decisions as the whole world watches.

Many filmmakers have tackled the tough subject matter of terror head-on with compelling stories told in very different ways.

United 93

Paul Greengrass’s real-time recreation of real Flight 93 – hijacked on September 11th, 2001 – follows the heroic passengers who take fate into their own hands and fight the terrorists themselves.

Four Lions

As sharp a satire as you can get, Chris Morris takes the comedy route in following British Muslim friends who want to be martyrs to their faith. Except… everything keeps going wrong.

Argo

Based on extraordinarily true events, Ben Affleck directs and stars in the story of a CIA agent who stages a dangerous and audacious operation to save U.S. hostages held in Tehran through the guise of filming a fake sci-fi film.

APRIL 4

THE CLASSIC STORY COMES TO LIFE

DISNEY’S SNOW WHITE

IN CINEMAS 21 MARCH

Director Marc Webb / Starring Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot, Andrew Burnap / Genre Family, Fantasy, Musical, Romance

Disney invites you to return to where the magic began with a live-action reimagining of their 1937 animated classic. The magical music adventure journeys back to the timeless story with beloved characters Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, and Sneezy, with Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Gal Gadot as her Stepmother, the Evil Queen. From director Marc Webb, the film features new versions of beloved Disney classics plus all-new original songs from Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the Oscar-winning songwriting team from La La Land, The Greatest Showman, and Aladdin.

IN CINEMAS 2 MAY

Director Jake Schreier / Starring Florence Pugh, David Harbour / Genre Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Marvel Studios and a crew of indie veterans who sold out present an irreverent team-up featuring depressed assassin Yelena Belova alongside the MCU’s least anticipated band of misfits. Yelena, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, John Walker, Ghost, Taskmaster, and Bob… together, reluctantly, they are the Thunderbolts*. Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah JohnKamen, and Olga Kurylenko reprise their MCU roles alongside newcomer Lewis Pullman to star as the band of misfit antiheroes, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus also returning as the government agent who’s brought all of them together for a top-secret mission.

Mickey 17

IN CINEMAS 18 APRIL

Director Bong Joon Ho / Starring Robert Pattinson, Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette / Genre Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi

The Academy Award-winning writer-director of Parasite returns with his next groundbreaking cinematic experience. Unlikely hero, Mickey Barnes, has found himself in the extraordinary circumstance of working for an employer who demands the ultimate commitment to the job... to die, for a living. Written and directed by Bong Joon Ho, Mickey 17 stars Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, and Steven Yeun, with Academy Award-nominees Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo.

A Minecraft Movie

IN CINEMAS 4 APRIL

Director Jared Hess / Starring Jack Black, Jason Momoa / Genre Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy

Welcome to the world of Minecraft, where creativity doesn’t just help you craft, it’s essential to one’s survival! Four misfits – Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, Henry, Natalie, and Dawn – suddenly find themselves struggling with ordinary problems when they’re pulled through a mysterious portal into the Overworld: a bizarre, cubic wonderland that thrives on imagination. To get back home to the real world, they’ll have to master this one – and protect it from evil things like Piglins, Creepers, and Zombies, too –while embarking on an epic, magical quest with an unexpected guide: expert crafter, Steve. Together, their adventure will challenge all five to be bold and to reconnect with the qualities that make each of them uniquely creative…the very skills that they all need to thrive back in the real world. Jason Momoa, Jack Black, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, and Sebastian Eugene Hansen star in the world’s firstever big screen, live-action, blockbuster adaptation of the best-selling video game of all time, Minecraft.

The Amateur

IN CINEMAS 11 APRIL

Director James Hawes / Starring Rami Malek, Laurence Fishburne, Rachel Brosnahan / Genre Action, Crime, Thriller

Rami Malek is Charlie Heller, a brilliant, but deeply introverted CIA decoder working out of a basement office at headquarters in Langley. His life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack. With his supervisors refusing to take action, he takes matters into his own hands and embarks on a dangerous trek across the globe to track down those responsible, with his intelligence serving as the ultimate weapon for eluding his pursuers and achieving his revenge.

Novocaine

IN CINEMAS 14 MARCH

Directors Dan Berk, Robert Olsen / Starring Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, Jacob Batalon / Genre Action, Comedy, Thriller

Nathan Caine has a rare genetic condition that means he can’t feel pain. When the love of his life is kidnapped, his affliction becomes his greatest strength as he sets out to rescue her.

The Penguin Lessons

IN CINEMAS 18 APRIL

Director Peter Cattaneo / Starring Steve Coogan, Jonathan Pryce, Vivian El Jaber, David Herrero / Genre Comedy, Drama

Steve Coogan stars in a poignant dramedy from the director of The Full Monty that follows a British teacher’s personal and political awakening after adopting a penguin in 1976 Argentina.

Until Dawn

IN CINEMAS 25 APRIL

Director David F. Sandberg / Starring Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Ji-young Yoo, Odessa A’zion / Genre Horror, Mystery

Based on the hit video game, a group of friends weekending in a ski lodge on the anniversary of their friends’ disappearance must fight to survive when they discover that they’re not alone.

CHARGED UP!

Antiheroes, assemble! Bad guys from Marvel’s past and present shake things up to end Phase Five with a bang. WORDS SCOTT J. DAVIS

Thunderbolts*

IN CINEMAS 2 MAY

Director Jake Schreier / Starring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Olga Kurylenko, Wyatt Russell, Lewis Pullman / Genre Action, Adventure

Marvel is back! After taking a brief hiatus to refine their upcoming slate – despite dropping Deadpool & Wolverine, Agatha All Along, and the bombshell news of Robert Downey Jr’s return as Doctor Doom in that time – the MCU is up and running once more and set to take 2025 and beyond by storm.

Anthony Mackie takes flight as Captain America, the new look Fantastic Four enter the fray, and most exciting of all, is the longmooted team-up of misfit antiheroes

from across the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Introducing the Thunderbolts* yes, asterisk and all. Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes, David Harbour’s Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost, Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster, Wyatt Russell’s John Walker, and Lewis Pullman’s Bob aka Sentry are brought together to fight for the U.S. government. With this renewed sense of purpose as part of a daresay “team,” they may have each just found a way of making being bad… good, but only if they can stop shooting and punching each other first.

Pulling the strings, it seems, is Julia Louis Dreyfus’ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine but their name suggests that someone bigger – much, much bigger – is really in charge.

Everything, as ever with Marvel, is under strict lock and key, but there’s more than enough to get excited for.

Rachel Weisz

With Yelena and Red Guardian reuniting from Black Widow, perhaps there’s some unfinished family business to sort with their surrogate matriarch, Melina Vostokoff.

Laurence Fishburne

In Ant-Man And The Wasp, Fishburne’s Bill Foster hopes to find a cure for Ava Starr aka Ghost’s molecular problems, perhaps he’s also helped her stay off-grid in all the time since.

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WIN CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD PRIZES!

With Steve Rogers’ shield and title, Sam Wilson takes flight as Captain America against an all-new and incredible enemy as the MCU enters a Brave New World.

In Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World, after meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, Sam finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.

As the world braces for the next MCU smash, only in cinemas February 14th, we’re bringing you the chance to win Captain America: Brave New World prizes.

Just answer the following question to enter: Q Harrison Ford’s President Thaddeus Ross becomes which villain?

Visit www.onscreen.online/win or scan the QR code to enter.

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EVENT CINEMA STAGE TO SCREEN

RBO: The Royal Opera – The Tales Of Hoffmann from Wednesday 15th January

Les Misérables: The Staged Concert from Tuesday 4th February

Macbeth: David Tennant & Cush Jumbo from Wednesday 5th February

NT Live: The Importance Of Being Earnest from Thursday 20th February

RBO: The Royal Ballet – Swan Lake from Thursday 27th February

Jesus Christ Superstar from Tuesday 4th March

All sites

A Night With Janis Joplin The Musical from Thursday 13th March

RBO: The Royal Ballet – Romeo And Juliet from Thursday 20th March

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IN CINEMAS COMING SOON