Here’s the reel deal: Us previews this season’s hottest tickets, from sexy lifeguard capers to rebooted superhero epics
Summer Movie Preview: ‘Wonder Woman,’ ‘Baywatch,’ ‘Spider-Man,’ And More!
Nailing Baywatch’s iconic slo-mo strut was no sweat for Priyanka Chopra. Starring in Bollywood films since 2001, “I have years of experience,” she tells Us. “We really love our slow motion when it comes to the introduction of girls. There’s a trick to it. You kick while you walk.” Tackling the villain role came easily too. As power-hungry Victoria in the remake of the campy ’90s hit, the Quantico star faces off against elite lifeguards (Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron) as she tries to smuggle drugs onto the beach. “It’s such a fun spoof!”
In the blockbuster series’ fifth installment, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is on the run from his nemesis, Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem). His only hope for survival lies in the Trident of Poseidon. But to find it, he must reluctantly team up with astronomer Carina (Kaya Scodelario) and sailor Henry (Brenton Thwaites). One guarantee: The sloshed pirate is as cheeky as ever. Says Depp, “I’m allowed to be as irreverent as I want.”
Step aside, boys. Wonder Woman, played by Gal Gadot, is here to save the day. “We’re living in a very big and diverse world,” explains director Patty Jenkins. “There should be representation of everything. A female superhero is great to have.” Israeli actress Gadot was the perfect, er, gal to lace up the iconic bustier, says Jenkins. “She exudes the qualities that are intrinsic to who Wonder Woman is historically: strength, power, goodness and warmth.” Butt-kicking action aside, Jenkins also promises a “great love story” between the Amazon warrior princess and American Steve Trevor, played by Chris Pine. In this origin story, the hunk “brings a huge sense of humor,” she continues. “Gal is magical and fascinating, so we needed a man as great as her in his own way to be the counterpart. Together, they’re total equals and a power duo.” Plan bathroom breaks carefully: Pine goes shirtless — and nearly pantsless — in the flick!
Life — and death — of the party: College best friends (played by Zoë Kravitz, Jillian Bell, Scarlett Johansson, Ilana Glazer and Kate McKinnon) reunite for a bachelorette getaway . . . and accidentally kill a male stripper. “It’s our turn to do a film like The Hangover where male characters get rowdy,” explains Kravitz. “Women want to do that too.”
While filming the action franchise’s latest, Josh Duhamel found tranquility. “I did a lot of yoga,” Duhamel says. “It kept my core strong and it was good for my head. I’m not sure it’s going to make me a more believable army colonel, but I haven’t felt this limber in years!” The dad of Axl, 3 (with Fergie), catches Us up.
Us Weekly: You sat out the last flick. Good to be back as Colonel Lennox?
Josh Duhamel: It felt like I just left! And I was more comfortable. I feel like a hardened soldier who has years under his belt fighting robots. They don’t seem as daunting.
Us: Favorite stunt?
JD: There’s a scene with a giant alien ship coming out of the ocean. It looks like all hell is breaking loose. We filmed it on a lifted platform at a 45-degree angle. There was 10,000 gallons of water beating against us and people flying all over. It was like a water park. I loved it!
Us: Any tips from costar Mark Wahlberg?
JD: Mark is a solid dude and one of the hardest-working guys I’ve ever met. [He’s] an inspiration.
Jealousy. Lust. Betrayal. When a wounded soldier (Colin Farrell) seeks refuge at an all-girls school, he triggers romantic rivalries among the headmistress (Nicole Kidman), a teacher (Kirsten Dunst) and a student (Elle Fanning). Though it’s set during the Civil War, director Sofia Coppola insists the gothic is relatable: “Guys that are charming but who you probably shouldn’t trust even though you want to? . . . Everyone’s been there.”
Bet on a good laugh: After spending their daughter’s college fund, Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler’s husband-wife duo open an illegal casino in their suburban basement. “Some movies are just funny or crazy,” says writer-director Andrew Jay Cohen. “This is that deadly combo of funny and crazy.” And while the comedians deliver on screen — “They jump off comedy cliffs and magically land on their feet” — he adds that the offscreen jokes were endless. “You couldn’t sit [around] without being sucked into some fun Will-and-Amy debate.”
Tom Holland was in for a shock. To score enviable abs for his role as Peter Parker, the Brit relied on EMS, a workout that uses electronic waves to stimulate muscles during exercise. “You train but also get electrocuted at the same time,” the actor, who worked out at London’s Body Shape Studios, tells Us. “It’s crazy! But it definitely made me ripped, which was the goal.” Now, the new objective is relaxation. With filming wrapped, “I’m just letting go and eating whatever I want,” reveals Holland. “I love pizza and, back home, a good Sunday roast with my Granny!”
Dane DeHaan’s cosmic operative Valerian has a perfect record. “He’s never failed a mission,” DeHaan tells Us of the character, charged with maintaining order in the 28th century. “A lot of that is because he is determined and very physically gifted. But a lot of it has to do with luck as well.” And it seems his good fortune may soon run out. In the sci-fi adventure, based on a popular French comic, Valerian and partner Laureline (Cara Delevingne) — “He is nothing without her,” says DeHaan — have less than 10 hours to defeat the mysterious evils working to bring down the city of Alpha. Hanging in the balance: the welfare of the entire galaxy. No biggie, right?
There was no way out. In 1940, in the midst of World War II, 400,000 Allied soldiers were trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk, France, caught between the English Channel and the German army. “It’s one of the greatest stories of all time,” Christopher Nolan, who wrote and directed the retelling, says. “It’s a suspenseful race against time. We bring you right there on the beach with the boys.” Newcomer Fionn Whitehead was his first choice to lead the thriller as a fresh-faced private. “We looked at thousands of people,” Nolan tells Us. “Fionn stepped in the room and had this incredible empathy. He has the charisma and ability to draw audiences in.”
Ashamed of his ability to show more than one emotion, Gene (T.J. Miller) journeys in search of a way to become like everyone else. Us Weekly exclusively revealed Christina Aguilera will join the cast as Akiko Glitter, a dancer that lives inside the Just Dance app. "I love Akiko Glitter because she's just free and alive,” Aguilera tells Us. "She lives the way I would love to express myself all the time. She's got this fun color hair, lives in this world that seems alive and fun to express yourself. You just get to move and have fun and just listen to music all the time, which is fun for everyone. What's not to love?”
It’s not easy to ignore Matthew McConaughey, but Idris Elba was up for the challenge. On location in South Africa, Elba — his character, gunslinger Roland Deschain, battles McConaughey’s evil Walter Padick — says, “I avoided seeing him.” That is, until the duo finally come face-to-face on screen. Adds the actor, “[It] was great for the actual chemistry on the film.”
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