THIS September 14 it is time to indulge your senses, uncover your deepest desires, and prepare for the adventure of a lifetime… “Three Thousand Years of Longing” is about to make your wildest dreams come true.

Helmed by George Miller (blockbuster director of countless iconic films such as Babe, Pig in The City, Happy Feet, and the mind-blowing franchise films Mad Max: The Road Warrior & Mad Max: Fury Road) Three Thousand Years of Longing is adapted from the highly beloved short story The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye by A.S. Byatt.

Starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, 3000 Years of Longing whisks the audience away on a mystical and epic adventure. The magical tale begins where Dr. Alithea Binnie (Swinton) travels to Istanbul to present at a conference. While looking for a souvenir, she finds herself strangely drawn to a file of trinkets and accidentally found a beautiful memento… unaware that this relic will change her life forever.

A mythical Djinn (Elba) reveals that he has been trapped in the relic, and offers Dr. Binne three wishes in exchange for his freedom. As a solitary academic and creature of reason, Dr. Binnie doubts if he is real and reminds the Djinn of numerous cautionary tales of wishes gone wrong. Desperate for his freedom, Djinn pleads his case to the skeptical Dr. Binnie, who ultimately makes a wish that neither could have expected.

Moviegoers can expect a dazzling spectacle and adventure of a lifetime in the must-see film of 2022. Hailed as a “visual feast” at this year’s Cannes international film festival, and earned a standing ovation that lasted 6 minutes, 3000 Years of Longinghas garnered rave reactions across the globe. Slashfilm.com proclaims: “this movie reaffirms George Miller as one of the great magicians of cinema working today.” Awards Daily’s calls this film: “a mythical extravaganza that packs an unexpected humanistic punch.” And IGN.com describes how: “Miller revitalizes the Arabian Nights with a technological twist… while Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba give it their all.”

Both lead actors are eager for audiences to finally see the movie on the big screen, with all its unprecedented spectacle and engaging narrative.

“I think the biggest challenge was always [being] conscious that the audience has seen some version of this character, albeit a cartoon version or some comical version,” Idris said in an interview with Yahoo News. “I was really conscious for this character to be believable and relatable and interesting to watch. It’s got to be less than that [comical style] and something unique.”

Swinton likewise shared her thoughts, “We were actually talking about this film for several years before we started shooting. The more time went by, the more relevant I thought this film was going to be,” she said. “People know more about being locked in a bottle for three thousand years than they might have three years ago,” she said. “They also know what it’s like to be locked down in your own homes.”

From Go Asia Entertainment, ‘Three Thousand Years of Longing’ will open in cinemas nationwide on September 14.

(ROHN ROMULO)

FRANCIS Ford Coppola’s new movie, Megalopolis, adds Shia LaBeouf to its star-studded cast amidst several controversies surrounding the actor. Coppola, the legendary writer/director behind The Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now, is widely regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.

However, his 1982 self-financed flop, One from the Heart, hindered his career as he spent the rest of the decade working to pay back his debts. Now, Coppola is betting it all again by self-financing another passion project.

Megalopolis, which Coppola wrote during the 1980s, is reportedly set in an alternate reality version of New York City called New Rome, and the film’s logline hints at an “epic story of political ambition, genius, and conflicted love.” The all-star Megalopolis cast already includes Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, and Aubrey Plaza. Now, with filming set to start this fall, Coppola’s $100 million movie has added another big name to its cast.

After initial reports first surfaced several weeks ago, Variety has confirmed that LaBeouf has joined the growing cast of Megalopolis. Though the controversial actor is the headline, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Grace Vanderwaal, Kathryn Hunter, and James Remar have also been added to the cast. Each actor’s role is still undisclosed, though LaBeouf’s is reportedly a “leading role.”

LaBeouf’s casting in Megalopolis is surprising given the several controversies surrounding the actor. For the past few years, he has essentially been blacklisted by Hollywood ever since musician FKA Twigs filed a lawsuit accusing him of sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress in 2020, a case which will first appear in front of a judge in April 2023. LaBeouf was cast in Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling.

However, he departed the project soon before filming began, leading to a recent public disagreement between the director and star over his reasons for exiting the project. LaBeouf also recently admitted to lying about being abused by his father to help promote his 2019 film Honey Boy.

Despite the mounting controversies against the actor, LaBeouf is set on a comeback. His next project will be Abel Ferrara’s film Padre Pio, which premieres at the Venice Film Festival later this summer, and Megalopolis should continue to get the actor’s career back on track. By putting up $120 million of his own money to finance Megalopolis, Coppola is already taking a major gamble to make the passion project possible, but casting a controversial actor like LaBeouf might be an unnecessary risk not worth taking. (source: screenrant.com)

(ROHN ROMULO)