Steven Spielberg Regrets Editing Guns Out of ‘E.T.,’ Says ‘No Film Should Be Revised Based On’ Today’s Standards: ‘That Was a Mistake’

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Simon Pegg and Tom Cruise have been “Mission: Impossible” co-stars and friends since meeting during the production of J.J. Abrams’ third installment, which opened in theaters in 2006, but that doesn’t mean the two discuss Cruise’s ties to Scientology. During an interview on BBC’s “Desert Island Discs” radio show, Pegg said he does not ask Cruise about anything related to his “personal beliefs” because “that would be me abusing my privileged access that I get to him.” That means Scientology questions are off the table. So what does Pegg talk to Cruise about? Cruise’s mega-fame, for starters. “We joke about it,” Pegg said. “I mean, I always make fun of him for it, you know, about the things that he can access. We were filming in South Africa recently on this mountain and then he decided he wanted to swim with sharks. He flew us in a helicopter to this seaside part and we dived with sharks. At the end of the day we said, ‘That was a real Tom Cruise kind of day.’ He kind of appreciates the ridiculousness of it sometimes.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Corrine Foxx has posted a health update regarding her father, Jamie Foxx, whose hospitalization was first announced on April 12. According to Corrine, the Oscar-winning actor is out of the hospital and has been “recuperating” for weeks. He’s also apparently healthy enough to be playing pickleball. “Update from the family: Sad to see how the media runs wild. My Dad has been out of the hospital for weeks, recuperating,” Corrine wrote on her Instagram story. “In fact, he was playing pickleball yesterday! Thanks for everyone’s prayers and support. We have an exciting work announcement coming next week too!” Jamie Foxx’s hospitalization remains somewhat of a mystery. Corrine broke the news of his medial emergency on April 12 via Instagram, writing: “We wanted to share that my father Jamie Foxx experienced a medical complication yesterday. Luckily due to quick action and great care he is already on his way to recovery. We know how beloved he is and appreciate your prayers. The family asks for privacy during this time.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director The “Fast and Furious” franchise might not be ending as quickly as fans previously thought. The upcoming “Fast X” is being billed by Universal Pictures as the beginning of the end of saga, which kicked off in 2001. The plan has long been to split the finale into two films, “Fast X” and the upcoming 11th installment, but franchise mastermind Vin Diesel let it slip at the “Fast X” world premiere in Rome that the finale might actually be spread across three films instead, which means a surprise 12th “Fast and Furious” movie might be on the way. Variety has reached out to Universal Pictures for comment. “Going into making this movie, the studio asked if this could be a two-parter,” Diesel said. “And after the studio saw this one, they said, ‘Could you make “Fast X” the finale, a trilogy?'”

Mubi has acquired 11 films by Lars von Trier for North America, including the director’s Dogme 95 entry The Idiots. It will release a new uncut 4K restoration of the film June 16 theatrically timed to its 25th anniversary, followed by an exclusive streaming release.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Dolph Lundgren revealed on “In Depth With Graham Bensinger” that he nearly punched Sylvester Stallone during the making of their 2010 ensemble action movie “The Expendables.” Stallone helmed the film himself, marking the second time he directed Lundgren in a movie after 1985’s “Rocky IV.” “We had some good times and bad times, kinda like family to some degree,” Lundgren said about his long-standing working relationship with Stallone. “He was very harsh on me in a scene in ‘The Expendables’ where he kinda yelled at me in front of the whole crew and had me do about 20 takes on a scene. It was like, ‘My grandmother could do it better than that. What the fuck, what are you doing?’ You know, basically in front of everybody. And there was press there that day too, international press.”

famously skilled at directing kids in movies. But a new video that’s surfaced puts the Hollywood heavyweight’s own childlike energy on display.A decades-old clip posted this week on Twitter shows the “E.T.” filmmaker playing a massive prank on “Goonies” director Richard Donner, back in 1985.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Guardians of the Galaxy” writer-director James Gunn revealed in a recent interview with ComicBook.com that Zoe Saldana’s Gamora was nearly killed off in 2017’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” about a year before the character met her demise in “Avengers: Infinity War.” According to Gunn, it was Marvel executives that talked him out of the decision. “Gamora almost died in ‘Vol. 2,'” Gunn said. “I knew from the beginning Zoe only wanted to play the character for so many years, and she’s been very honest saying that she’s done [after this]. And so I was going to have her die. I thought she was the one that was going to sacrifice herself…I was kind of talked out of it by Kevin [Feige] and Lou [D’Esposito], and then it just didn’t work that well. It didn’t feel right, it felt much more right to go where we go in that movie. That seemed what was correct for the story.”

Steven Spielberg has said that he regrets editing out guns from the 1980s classic film E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.The science fiction film premiered in 1982, and follows an alien who was left behind on Earth after the rest of his family were chased away by US government vehicles. During his stay, he met a 10-year-old boy who sheltered him and promised to keep him safe until he returned home.Speaking at the New York Times 100 Summit on Tuesday (April 25) the iconic director made remarks regarding editing a scene to feature federal agents holding walkie-talkies instead of guns when they were chasing the children for the 20th anniversary special edition of the film.

Barack and Michelle Obama had a very special dinner in Barcelona. The pair had a great time with Steven Spielberg and Bruce Springsteen ahead of his concert, which is taking place on Friday, April 28, and is his first performance in Spain since 2016.The 73-year-old musician was accompanied by his wife Patti Scialfa, who seems to be good friends with the former First Lady.

Michelle and former President Barack Obama are sightseeing in Barcelona, Spain.

Steven Spielberg was originally set to direct Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jason Momoa told Variety at Sundance that he co-wrote the first story treatment for “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” the upcoming Warner Bros. and DC tentpole that is the sequel to 2018’s billion dollar-grossing “Aquaman.” “The beautiful thing [about ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’] is me and my partner wrote the first treatment for it and it was about a 50-page treatment, and a lot of it has to deal with me talking to the U.N. about what’s happening with the melting ice caps,” Momoa said at the time. “There’s no far off galaxy coming to destroy us or aliens from another place. It’s us ruining our planet. We need to get it together and save our home.”

regrets editing the guns out of “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” and digitally swapping them with walkie-talkies for the 20th anniversary re-release in 2002. “That was a mistake,” a repentant Spielberg said of his misguided attempt to reduce the ending’s peril.

Steven Spielberg has shared his reaction after seeing Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny for the first time.The upcoming fifth instalment is the first entry in the franchise not directed by Spielberg, who instead serves as an executive producer. James Mangold, who previously helmed Logan and Ford v Ferrari, takes up the role of director on the sequel.During the Time 100 Summit (via Variety), Spielberg was asked what it was like watching an Indiana Jones movie he didn’t direct.“I just had that experience two nights ago,” the director said.

James Mangold‘s “Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny” will have its world premiere next month at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18: a prestige showing for a prestige franchise. Or what was once a prestige franchise? Fifteen years after 2008’s “Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Cyrstal Skull,” it’s hard to tell how much cultural caché Lucasfilm‘s storied series still has.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Steven Spielberg has seen “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” the fifth installment in the long-running adventure franchise and, notably, the first entry not to be directed by Spielberg himself. “The Wolverine” and “Ford v Ferrari” director James Mangold took over filmmaking duties on “Dial of Destiny.” Anyone worried a Spielberg-less “Indiana Jones” movie might not deliver the goods can now rest easy, as Spielberg himself loved the latest sequel. “I just had that experience two nights ago,” Spielberg said at the Time 100 Summit when asked what it’s like watching an “Indiana Jones” movie he didn’t direct. “Bob Iger had a screening for a lot of the Disney executives and I came to the screening along with the director James Mangold. Everybody loved the movie. It’s really, really a good Indiana Jones film. I’m really proud of what Jim has done with it.”

hit 1982 film “E.T.” that showed government agents armed with guns.The scene ultimately didn’t make it into the 2002 re-release of the film and instead had the guns replaced with walkie talkies.“That was a mistake. That was a mistake,” he said at the Time 100 Summit Tuesday, adding, “I never should have done that because ‘E.T.’ was a product of its era.”“No film should be revised based on the lenses we now are, either voluntarily or being forced to peer through.”“‘E.T.’ was a film that I was sensitive to the fact that the federal agents were approaching kids with firearms exposed and I thought I would change the guns into walkie talkies.

Matthew McConaughey smoking a joint in Guy Ritchie’s new movie “The Covenant.” The prolific British director has, for the moment, left behind quirky crime and comedy for his Afghanistan War film — and it’s not hard to understand why. The story the movie is based on is a harrowing and special one. A US Army sergeant and an Afghan interpreter are on the run from the Taliban, when the American is knocked unconscious and his companion must go to extraordinary lengths to save him.Running time: 125 minutes.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Zack Snyder joined Anthony and Joe Russo’s “Pizza Film School” podcast and raved about HBO’s “Euphoria” and Netflix’s “Squid Game,” two shows he cited while discussing how television has become far more adventurous and exciting than film when it comes to storytelling. “I think we’re in a real golden age of TV in the sense that TV shows are much better at showing you something that you’ve never seen before, or catching you off balance or making a turn that you didn’t see coming,” Snyder said (via The Playlist). “They’re way riskier.” “‘Euphoria,’ for instance, I was just watching the show [and] it’s just unbelievable,” Snyder continued. “That show shouldn’t exist; it’s so good. And that’s the kind of thing… I watch that show and go, ‘This movie would never get made; this movie can’t exist.’”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Steven Soderbergh’s beloved 2001 heist comedy “Ocean’s Eleven” remains one of the director’s most star-studded affairs thanks to an ensemble that included George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Don Cheadle and more. It turns out the group wanted even more star power, as Clooney recently confirmed reports that both Mark Wahlberg and Johnny Depp were approached to star in the movie (via Entertainment Weekly). “Steven had just done ‘Erin Brockovich’ and ‘Traffic,’ and he was nominated for [an Oscar for] directing both films,” Clooney said during a discussion with Soderbergh at the TCM Film Festival. “So, people really wanted to work with Steven.”