AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Hollywood is finally on a roll at the box office. The film industry had its best start to the year since before the pandemic. So what do the studios have next? Well, here's critic Bob Mondello's spring movie preview.
BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: It's going to be like a class reunion at the multiplex this spring - lots of old pals.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2")
ANNE HATHAWAY: (As Andy Sachs) Hello?
STANLEY TUCCI: (As Nigel) Well, look what TJ Maxx dragged in.
MERYL STREEP: (As Miranda Priestly) Sorry. Who is this?
MONDELLO: Though not everyone remembers everyone.
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STREEP: (As Miranda Priestly) Do you know her? Do I know her?
HATHAWAY: (As Andy Sachs) I'm Andy Sachs.
TUCCI: (As Nigel) She was one of the Emilys.
STREEP: (As Miranda Priestly) One of the what?
MONDELLO: In "The Devil Wears Prada 2," Meryl Streep is still Runway magazine's queen bee, and Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt are still buzzing around her.
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HATHAWAY: (As Andy Sachs) I am the new features editor at Runway.
EMILY BLUNT: (As Emily) No, you are not.
STREEP: (As Miranda Priestly) Yeah. We are all so thrilled.
BLUNT: (As Emily) You know what's funny is you've changed. You have. You're much more confident. Kept those eyebrows, though, didn't you?
MONDELLO: A well-known title character in another movie kept a lot of her features, too, but well, it's complicated.
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CHRISTIAN BALE: (As Frankenstein's Monster) We dug you up, literally brought you back to life.
MONDELLO: Christian Bale is Frankenstein's creature, Jessie Buckley the woman he hopes to wed, in Maggie Gyllenhaal's "The Bride!"
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JESSIE BUCKLEY: (As The Bride) What do you want with a dead girl?
BALE: (As Frankenstein's Monster) I'm the same - born from the dead. I am a monster.
BUCKLEY: (As The Bride) Yeah, so am I.
MONDELLO: Some familiar folks from TV will join them in cinemas for the first time.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Whatever happened to Tommy Shelby, the famous g**** gangster?
MONDELLO: Everybody's favorite crime gang decided their finale deserved widescreen treatment in "Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man"...
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Tommy, you've got to come back.
MONDELLO: ...While a little guy we first met as Baby Yoda is making his big-screen debut in the 13th "Star Wars" film, "The Mandalorian & Grogu."
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MONDELLO: It's been seven years since the last "Star Wars" movie, so the producers figure there's some pent-up demand. And that same theory applies to a biopic...
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KENDRICK SAMPSON: (As Quincy Jones) The tracks are made.
MONDELLO: ...Of a pop icon...
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SAMPSON: (As Quincy Jones) The songs are ready.
MONDELLO: ...Known as The Gloved One.
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SAMPSON: (As Quincy Jones) Let's take it from the top.
MONDELLO: The film is simply called "Michael," and adding intrigue is the casting of Michael Jackson's near lookalike nephew Jaafar Jackson, who will be stepping into his uncle's shoes and, presumably...
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JAAFAR JACKSON: (As Michael Jackson, singing) You wanna be startin' something...
MONDELLO: ...Moonwalking.
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SAMPSON: (As Quincy Jones) That's what people want.
MONDELLO: Speaking of what people want, industry tracking reports suggests that one of the spring's most anticipated movies is a science fiction thriller called "Project Hail Mary," about a middle school teacher who may be the world's only hope when the sun starts to dim.
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SANDRA HULLER: (As Eva Stratt) If we do nothing, everything on this planet will go extinct, including us.
MONDELLO: It stars Ryan Gosling...
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HULLER: (As Eva Stratt) Dr. Grace, the world is counting on you.
MONDELLO: ...And is based on a novel by Andy Weir, who wrote "The Martian." Like that story about a lengthy and dangerous space flight, "Project Hail Mary" blends suspense...
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RYAN GOSLING: (As Ryland Grace, screaming).
MONDELLO: ...With humor.
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GOSLING: (As Ryland Grace) So I met an alien. He's kind of growing on me. At least he's not growing in me, you know? - which was a concern for a little while.
MONDELLO: Starting out with humor but then going darker is "This Is Not A Test," which puts high school students to the test, as it mixes "The Breakfast Club"...
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CHLOE AVAKIAN: (As Grace) Drinking game?
FROY GUTIERREZ: (As character) Never have I ever cheated on a test. When you're smart, you don't have to.
(LAUGHTER)
MONDELLO: ...With "28 Days Later."
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GUTIERREZ: (As character) Never have I ever survived a zombie invasion.
MONDELLO: Always a first time - other suspense flicks include "Undertone," an audio-centric thriller...
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NINA KIRI: (As Evy) Welcome to the "Undertone" podcast, where we talk about all things creepy.
ADAM DIMARCO: (As Justin) We're listening to 10 mysterious audio recordings from an anonymous email.
MONDELLO: ...Also, "Deep Water," a shark-infested blood bath from director Renny Harlin, "Scream 7," the latest installment in that popular series, and "Mother Mary," a fashion-forward thriller about a singer and her dress designer. In this one, Anne Hathaway will not wear Prada.
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HATHAWAY: (As Mother Mary) You can't really hate me.
MICHAELA COEL: (As Sam Anselm) Oh, yes, I can.
HATHAWAY: (As Mother Mary) So is that what we're doing here? You're making me a hate dress?
COEL: (As Sam Anselm) You'll see.
MONDELLO: Thrills are also on the table when philanthropist Jessica Chastain gets involved with and then overly fixated on a young dancer she's been helping in the movie "Dreams."
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ISAAC HERNANDEZ: (As Fernando Rodríguez) Maybe I'll just go back to Mexico. Stop calling me.
JESSICA CHASTAIN: (As Jennifer McCarthy) You think you know me that well? You don't know me at all.
MONDELLO: And in the movie "Normal," Sheriff Bob Odenkirk presides over a town in Minnesota.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As narrator) Life in Normal is quiet, peaceful, predictable - until it isn't.
REENA JOLLY: (As Lori) Why are they shooting at you?
BOB ODENKIRK: (As Ulysses) I'm at a loss.
MONDELLO: If that all sounds kind of extreme, rest assured there are gentler tales headed our way, a few with redemption on their minds. The film "Elijah Peel" is about a hard-driving rock star and the heart attack that lands him in a cardiac ward with young Jessica.
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EVELYN GRACE KITE: (As Jessica Sanchez) They say you were self-destructive - too many girls, too much partying.
ROBERT MALCOLM CUMMING: (As Elijah Peel) I think someone's been watching a bit too much telly.
MONDELLO: She is a buoyant, but very sick little girl.
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EVELYN: (As Jessica Sanchez) I thought you might need a pick-me-up.
CUMMING: (As Elijah Peel) You should be asleep. That's a joke. Well done.
MONDELLO: And just in time for the nation's 250th birthday, a tale of faith and founding fathers in "A Great Awakening."
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JONATHAN BLAIR: (As George Whitefield) Benjamin Franklin.
JOHN PAUL SNEED: (As Benjamin Franklin) Reverend George Whitefield.
BLAIR: (As George Whitefield) A match made in heaven.
SNEED: (As Benjamin Franklin) Or just a deal made in a print shop.
MONDELLO: Inspiration also comes in sports dramas like "Youngblood."
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #4: (As character) Youngblood coming down the wing.
MONDELLO: It's a Canadian remake of a 1986 Rob Lowe/Patrick Swazee movie.
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BLAIR UNDERWOOD: (As Blane Youngblood) Hockey will teach you what you need to know about life.
MONDELLO: As will boxing, when Wanda Sykes makes her dramatic debut as a former boxer, now a coach in the "Undercard."
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WANDA SYKES: (As Cheryl "No Mercy" Stewart) This is your time, our time. You were born fighting (ph). Do what we came here to do.
MONDELLO: All very nice, but you say you're looking for laughs when you head to a cinema? Well, there'll be plenty, some aimed at kids...
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JACK BLACK: (As Bowser) Hey, Luigi. What's up, Mario?
MONDELLO: ..."The Super Mario Galaxy Movie," for instance, and "The Pout-Pout Fish" about a perpetual frowner who lives up to his name.
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NICK OFFERMAN: (As Mr. Fish) Hey. What are you doing?
NINA OYAMA: (As character) Can you help Hip (ph) out? Pwease (ph)?
OFFERMAN: (As Mr. Fish) Hmm. No.
MONDELLO: Pixar's found a way to send human characters into the animal world in "Hoppers."
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PIPER CURDA: (As Mabel) So let me get this straight. You created a fake animal...
KATHY NAJIMY: (As Dr. Sam) Yes.
CURDA: (As Mabel) ...Which makes the other animals think you're an animal.
NAJIMY: (As Dr. Sam) Yes.
CURDA: (As Mabel) Guys, this is like "Avatar."
NAJIMY: (As Dr. Sam) This is nothing like "Avatar."
MONDELLO: And Andy Serkis seems to have taken some liberties in adapting George Orwell's dystopian classic, "Animal Farm."
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GLENN CLOSE: (As Freida Pilkington) Pigs and humans working together - I like the optics.
SETH ROGEN: (As Napoleon) Oh, we love the optics. What are optics?
KIERAN CULKIN: (As Squealer) I think it's a kind of seafood.
MONDELLO: Sounds like they may have missed the point on that one - "Animal Farm" has always been an adult comedy. But there's no shortage of those elsewhere, from "How To Make A Killing," in which Glen Powell plays a blue-collar outsider who's pretty far down the list of inheritors to his grandfather's fortune...
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GLEN POWELL: (As Becket Redfellow) There were seven of them between myself and $28 billion.
MONDELLO: He decides there's one way he could maybe increase his odds of inheriting.
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POWELL: (As Becket Redfellow) If I were to prune a few branches of the family tree...
MARGARET QUALLEY: (As character) I'm sure you'll make a killing.
MONDELLO: There are also comedies about theft of a less lethal sort, like "I Love Boosters"...
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POPPY LIU: (As character) What's a booster?
KEKE PALMER: (As Corvette) Somebody that steal clothes from a store and sell it at a discount price.
NAOMI ACKIE: (As Sade) It's like community service.
MONDELLO: ...And what is possibly the oddest of the spring's comedies, "The Sheep Detective," (ph) in which Hugh Jackman plays a shepherd who's really devoted to his flock.
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HUGH JACKMAN: (As George Hardy) I keep them well fed, well groomed. And each day, I read out loud to them - mysteries, whodunits. I like to pretend that they follow along, but they're only sheep.
MONDELLO: Of course, he doesn't speak sheep.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #5: (As character) Ugh, why would he stop there?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #6: (As character) He was just about to say who the killer was.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #7: (As character) This is torture.
MONDELLO: Anyway, when they find George one morning not moving, they are prepared.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #8: (As character) Our shepherd was murdered. And we shall solve the crime.
JACKMAN: (As George Hardy) I've read you dozens of these stories (ph). They follow very simple rules.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #9: (As character) Look, a clue (ph).
MONDELLO: Nobody's going to pull the wool over their eyes - could be a tasty bit of spring lamb at the cineplex. Are you ready? I'm Bob Mondello.
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THE PROCLAIMERS: (Singing) To be the man who walked a thousand miles... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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