FOLLOWING FILMS

HBO has officially renewed its two biggest new comedy hits, The Chair Company and I Love LA, following a standout presentation in New York City where Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO and HBO Max Content, confirmed both series will return for second seasons. The renewals come as no surprise: The Chair Company, created by Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin, is now HBO’s top-performing freshman comedy of all time, averaging 3.3 million U.S. cross-platform viewers (L+3). Meanwhile, Rachel Sennott’s I Love LA has become the platform’s second biggest freshman comedy, drawing nearly 2 million viewers and rapidly building momentum. Amy Gravitt, HBO’s EVP of Programming and Head of Comedy, praised the success of both shows, noting how each “confidently carries on the HBO comedy tradition” in its own unique voice. Critics have embraced both series with unusually enthusiastic reviews. The Chair Company currently boasts a rare 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes and has been celebrated as “absurdly funny” ...

Welcome to another episode of The Following Films Podcast. Today, I’m thrilled to be joined once again by director Simon Cellan Jones. If you’ve been with us for a while, you’ll remember our fantastic conversation around his film Arthur the King — and I’ve been eager to have him back on ever since. Simon returns at a particularly exciting moment in his career. His highly anticipated new project, The Family Plan 2, starring Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan, will be hitting Apple TV+ on November 21st. We’ll be diving into the making of the film, revisiting his experience on Arthur the King, and exploring how his storytelling continues to evolve across such varied and ambitious projects. I’m genuinely grateful to have him back on the show — so without further ado, here is my conversation with Simon Cellan Jones.

 THE BLUES BROTHERS: THE ESCAPE OF JOLIET JAKE is a bold and deeply affectionate continuation of the Blues Brothers legacy. Forged from a collaboration between Dan Aykroyd’s family and the estate of John Belushi, this graphic novel seeks to pick up where the classic 1980 film left off, while honoring the irreverent spirit, frenetic energy, and soulful heart that made the original such a beloved cultural touchstone. The result is both a nostalgic homage and a fresh creative chapter, a story that leans on its roots while daring to ask: what happens next for Jake and Elwood after their wild ride through Chicago? The narrative begins by revisiting the end of the original film: Jake “Joliet” Blues and his brother Elwood are jailed after their “mission from God” to save their childhood orphanage ends in arrest. From there, the graphic novel fast-forwards, exploring how the two brothers deal with confinement, legacy, and the restless pull of the blues. Rather than merely rehashing th...

Splitsville is the kind of relationship comedy that refuses to cushion the viewer with predictable lessons or moral clarity. Instead, it embraces the tangled and often contradictory emotions that arise when people try to live by ideals they don’t fully understand. Directed by Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin, who also star, the film blends cringe humor, raw confession, and emotional chaos into a story that feels simultaneously absurd and painfully familiar. Rather than aiming for a tidy romantic arc, it leans into the reality that love in 2025 is frequently messy, self-contradictory, and full of poorly timed revelations. The story follows two couples who are closely connected and increasingly entangled. Carey, played by Marvin, and Ashley, portrayed with aching vulnerability by Adria Arjona, are a married pair trying to recover from a recent trauma that neither of them can articulate without stumbling. Their communication has become hesitant, and the sense of partnership that once...

New Line Cinema’s The Conjuring: Last Rites is officially heading to streaming, with Warner Bros. Pictures confirming that the record-breaking horror film will make its global streaming debut exclusively on HBO Max on Friday, November 21. The movie will also premiere on HBO linear on Saturday, November 22 at 8:00 p.m. ET, giving fans two ways to experience the terrifying final chapter of the Conjuring saga. The highly anticipated film stars Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, who reprise their iconic roles as real-life paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren for their final case. The cast also includes Mia Tomlinson, Ben Hardy, Tony Spera, Steve Coulter, Rebecca Calder, Elliot Cowan, Beau Gadsdon, Kíla Lord Cassidy, John Brotherton, and Shannon Kook.

Justin Tipping’s HIM is a genre hybrid that merges sports drama, psychological thriller, and stylized horror into one disorienting, fever-dream narrative about ambition, identity, and the cost of greatness. Produced by Monkeypaw, the film embraces an operatic sense of dread, pairing football mythology with ritualistic imagery to create something that feels both familiar and deeply uncanny. Whether every choice lands will vary by viewer, but its aesthetic boldness and thematic ambition make it an undeniably distinctive entry in contemporary horror storytelling. At the heart of the film is Cameron Cade, a young quarterback whose trajectory appears predetermined; he’s the type of athlete scouts whisper about, the kind fans attach their dreams to. That dream collapses when Cameron is violently attacked by a stranger, leaving him with a traumatic brain injury just before the scouting combine. The attack is staged with unsettling intimacy: lingering camera movement, muffled sound, and sudden...

McCourt Entertainment has announced that acclaimed filmmaker Adam Mason will direct AMERIGO, a new documentary series produced with South Florida PBS and distributed nationwide by American Public Television (APT). Premiering ahead of America’s 250th anniversary in 2026, the series investigates the changing meaning of the American Dream and the growing challenges facing working families. Filmed across all 50 states, AMERIGO features more than 500 unscripted interviews with veterans, teachers, immigrants, artists, and entrepreneurs. The series examines key issues shaping American life today—from wage stagnation and affordable housing to rising inequality—and asks a central question: What happened to the American Dream? Mason, known for his cinematic style and deep ties to music culture, has collaborated with top talent including Sir Anthony Hopkins, Al Pacino, Demi Moore, and Sofia Carson. His background in both film and music video direction makes him, according to McCourt Entertainment...

If Together proves anything, it’s that the scariest thing about relationships isn’t breaking up — it’s merging so completely that you forget who you are. Director Michael Shanks takes this simple emotional idea and stretches it into something grotesque, romantic, and disturbingly funny. Starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco, a real-life couple, the film turns domestic tension into body horror, letting metaphor and flesh literally fuse together. The movie begins in familiar territory: Tim (Franco), an aspiring musician stuck in creative limbo, and Millie (Brie), a driven teacher, move from the city to a quiet rural community. The change is meant to help them reconnect after years of drifting apart. Instead, the isolation highlights how incompatible they’ve become. Their arguments are small at first, about chores, career envy, unspoken resentment, but beneath the surface lies a deeper dread: what if love itself is the thing that’s killing them? That dread takes form when the couple stumbl...

Eli Roth is ready to serve horror fans something chilling and sweet. The genre maestro behind Hostel, Cabin Fever, and last year’s slasher hit Thanksgiving has officially unveiled the cast for his next blood-soaked creation, Ice Cream Man, the debut feature from his new company, The Horror Section. Leading the pack is Orphan Black standout Ari Millen as the titular frozen treat vendor from hell. He’s joined by Benjamin Byron Davis (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), Karen Cliche (Thanksgiving), Dylan Hawco (Heartland), Sarah Abbott (Black Mirror, The Body), Shiloh O’Reilly (Thanksgiving), Kiori Mirza Waldman, Charlie Zeltzer (The Handmaid’s Tale), and Charlie Storey (Thanksgiving). And yes, Roth himself will appear in front of the camera, because what’s an Eli Roth joint without a cameo from the master of mayhem? A Twenty-Year Nightmare Finally Served “I couldn’t be more excited about the incredible cast we’ve assembled for Ice Cream Man,” Roth said in a statement. “It’s surreal to see t...