movies
The greatest World Cup performance – The Cricket Monthly
Ian Botham
4 for 31, and 53, Australia vs England, Sydney, 1992
by Andrew Miller
Imagine, if you will, Ben Stokes at the 2031 World Cup. By then he will be 39 years old, with knees held together by chewing gum and his batting having long since descended into a riot of mistimed slogs. His glory days will be a decade divorced from the reality of his fading faculties, and yet… when he walks onto the field for that critical clash against Australia at the Wankhede, do you think you’ll be ready to bet against him?
Now, hold that thought, and carry it backwards through space and time, to an era when another mighty English allrounder was staggering towards his own endgame. Like this Stokes of the future, the Ian Botham who waddled into the 1992 World Cup was a preposterous husk of a cricketer, a man both hobbled and empowered by his wanton disregard for sport’s accepted rules of engagement.
But you can’t just look back over that grainy footage of England’s World Cup final defeat to Pakistan in Melbourne – complete with Botham’s tight-fitting sky-blue pyjamas and his decisively anonymous contributions – and state the bleeding obvious: that he was irredeemably past it and had no business being involved in the sharp end of a global tournament.
Instead, place yourself in the shoes of his opponents, those soon-to-be-world-cricket-overlords, Australia, in a must-win encounter in Sydney 20 days earlier. By the early 1990s, Allan Border’s men were a team on the rise, as demonstrated by their two crushing Ashes wins plus the 1987 World Cup title, and by the middle of the decade, Border’s heirs would be confirmed as the sport’s next great dynasty. And yet, Australia’s dog days were not only recent enough for that scar tissue to be all too easily ripped asunder, but those wounds had been administered, for the most part, by the very same man now poddling in off seven paces with his hit-me-if-you-dare outswingers and who-do-you-think-you-are-I-am swagger.
The Botham who waddled into the 1992 World Cup was a preposterous husk of a cricketer, a man both hobbled and empowered by his wanton disregard for sport’s accepted rules of engagement
How does one begin to compete with such myth-crafting bravado? Whereas Stokes, you imagine, will at least keep hitting the gym (if not the nets) into his professional dotage, Botham took his own professional dereliction to nose-divingly low standards, as if determined to consume the entire game in the resulting fireball.
He famously arrived late on England’s pre-World Cup tour of New Zealand because he was double-booked as the King in Jack and the Beanstalk at Bournemouth’s Pavilion Theatre (“The expressionless Botham is the only wooden thing on stage apart from the beanstalk,” wrote a critic in the Daily Express). And, as if that hadn’t been an insufficient workout, Botham then marked the eve of his 100th Test, in Wellington, by flying across the Cook Strait in a helicopter for a convivial afternoon in a vineyard before sauntering back to the team hotel with minutes to spare before a 6pm meeting.
There was no logical reason to believe that he could possibly be a factor in England’s World Cup campaign, except that logic and Botham had long since parted company. And with Australia desperate for victory after damaging defeats to New Zealand and South Africa, one final display of weapons-grade chutzpah proved sufficient to sink them.
From 145 for 4, Australia shipped their last six wickets for 26, with Botham barging through the lower middle order with four in seven balls – Border drove past a straight one and was sent on his way with a pointy-fingered display of dad dancing, before Ian Healy, Peter Taylor and Craig McDermott were also left wondering if Botham was, indeed, their daddy as they too trooped off the stage, meek and bewildered.
Botham’s ODI-best figures of 4 for 31 were just the hors d’oeuvres. Suddenly Australia might as well have been back at the Gabba in November 1986 – the previous occasion in which Botham’s spirit of conquest had flooded back into his desecrated game. A rollicking 53 from 77 balls ensued, replete with trademark hoists up and over the covers, and long before England had coasted home with eight wickets and 55 balls to spare, Australia knew their World Cup party had been ransacked by the most dastardly foe of their lifetimes.
It Wasim that did it: Akram sealed the deal first with the bat, then the ball
© PA Photos
Wasim Akram
33 and 3 for 49, England vs Pakistan, final, Melbourne, 1992
By Osman Samiuddin
The moment Wasim Akram won Pakistan the World Cup final was the moment he stopped being the next Imran Khan and started being Wasim Akram. Except that until then, Wasim Akram was a simple idea. He was the next Imran, the next great Pakistan fast bowler, the next great Pakistan allrounder, the next great Pakistan captain, the next great Pakistani sex symbol.
Life got very complicated very quickly after this evening, and not being the next Imran, it turned out, was both good and bad. But this 25th evening of March in 1992 – the 20th fast of Ramadan – was the last night of that first part of Akram’s life and it was the perfect culmination of his career as it had been till then.
Two summers previously, he had dominated an Australian summer, stepping into Imran’s shoes with impeccable all-round performances: wickets when it mattered, runs when they were needed. The arrivals of Aaqib Javed and Waqar Younis – younger, quicker, wilder – had, by default, burnished Akram with a sense of seniority. He was now the leader of this attack.
The reflex is always to view his eventual performance in this final as its own thing, as the kind of great sporting feat we expect from great players. It’s natural, given it came on the biggest stage in cricket. But that he would deliver in this final was as close to an inevitability as there can be when dealing with such notions, because it often goes unnoticed how clutch Akram had become coming into the MCG in 1992.
Scan through his record in finals in multi-team tournaments. Three for 42 in a vital death-overs slowdown of India in the Miandad game; 3 for 27 in a final lost to England in Perth; a first-ball six to win the Nehru Cup when three were needed off the last two balls; 86 and 2 for 30 in a Benson and Hedges tri-series final thrashing at the MCG; 49 not out off 35 and a hat-trick in an Austral-Asia Cup final against Australia; a couple of months later, 28 off 21 and 3 for 30 (including a legendarily quick spell to Graeme Hick) in a famous Benson and Hedges Cup win with Lancashire.
That Akram would deliver in this final was as close to an inevitability as there can be. It often goes unnoticed how clutch he had become coming to the MCG in 1992
Pakistan would do how they did at the MCG, but Akram, it was clear by then, would turn up.
Although the batting bit of it, in truth, wasn’t entirely inevitable. Akram had not reached 20 in 21 innings since the unbeaten 49 in that Austral-Asia final. He reached double figures only five times in that run. Moreover, Pakistan’s strategy of hoarding wickets at the expense of a proactive run-rate, in the hopes of a late-overs blast, was high risk.
And sending Akram in ahead of Salim Malik, a proven death-overs bandit, was arguably even riskier. But Akram had been feeling light all morning, as if floating, and the promotion was perhaps Imran’s acknowledgement of Akram’s sense for these moments.
He was always a clean hitter of the ball, as was apparent when he struck Ian Botham for two fours in the 46th over. In the 49th, he charged at a floaty nothing ball from Chris Lewis as if offended by its innocuousness, and struck it fiercely down the ground. Then, as he turned to walk back to his end, came the tell, his head down but visibly pumping himself up. It was unusual for Akram to be this expressive while batting, but it signalled that he was right here, grounded in the moment, present, all of him, and England had better watch out and also resign themselves to this mood.
And then, the bowling, about which what more can be said? The wicket of Botham, a ball that yelped at him from a length like a startled terrier, made so much better by dint of not actually being out? Or that the two wickets of Allan Lamb and Lewis are by now so ingrained, each frame in the journey of the ball can be recited, as can the repartee between Richie Benaud and Tony Cozier that followed, like some article of faith?
Perhaps only this that what Akram did to Lamb and Lewis, that night-time blur of quick arm, sharp angle and late movement, even to this day feels as fresh and new as it did then; 30 years later, it’s still impossible to see how Lamb or anyone, with whatever kind of bat and mindset, in whichever league on whatever ground, could play that ball.
Inevitable and no less spectacular for it.
Flowering inferno: Kapil unleashes violence against the rhododendrons at Nevill Ground
© Getty Images
Kapil Dev
175 not out, and 1 for 32, India vs Zimbabwe, Tunbridge Wells, 1983
by Sambit Bal
How to write about a performance that no one has watched?
Okay, let’s change that to “very few”.
And for which no footage exists.
It’s kind of strange that in the age of on-demand clips, the first audio-visual representation of Kapil Dev’s colossal solo came via a movie, with the actor Ranveer Singh making an honest fist of Kapil’s trademark strokes. You can only assume that, given he was consulted for the film, Ranveer’s reproductions had passed Kapil’s scrutiny. But so much of that innings is left to scouring hazy memories and second-hand impressions that the performance has a fable-like quality, where imagination is left to have a free run. Which is just as well.
But while the minutiae remain sketchy – did his fifty come off 72 balls or 73? Did he really not hit a single four during his 60-run sixth-wicket partnership with Roger Binny? And how many of his sixes cleared the playing arena and landed in the streets outside? – about the fundamental truth of the performance there is no doubt. There is no other World Cup performance of such scale achieved under such adversity, when the stakes were as high, and so much depended on one player.
Immediacy can create instant halos, but the marker of true sporting greatness is the test of time. Forty years on, Kapil Dev’s single-handed deliverance of India at Tunbridge Wells, a small town known more for its rejuvenating spring waters, pretty gardens and medieval castles than any cricket heritage, stands incomparable in the history of the World Cup, not merely for its epic quality but also for consequence.
Some facts about this match are well known. India, rank outsiders before the tournament began, came into this game hoping to keep their semi-final prospects alive. Kapil, then 24 and not even a year into his captaincy, after landing the job abruptly, chose to bat on a wet wicket ostensibly to push India’s run rate ahead of Australia’s. But the Zimbabwe new-ball bowlers, the seasoned Peter Rawson and the young tyke Kevin Curran – who would go on to become a prolific county pro and whose sons Sam and Tom would go on to play for England – had the ball wobbling and nipping. India, at 6 for 3 when Kapil was summoned from the showers, at 9 for 4 when he walked in to bat and at 17 for 5 in seven overs when Binny joined him, at 78 for 7 before the lunch break, and at 140 for 8, were not as much in a hole as spiralling down an abyss.
It’s kind of strange that in the age of on-demand clips, the first audio-visual representation of Kapil Dev’s colossal solo came via a movie
Indians hadn’t known a cricketer like Kapil before. He was effortlessly athletic. He glided into the crease and bowled outswingers as if he was designed for it. He was as swift in the field, making it to distant balls with deceptive ease and rarely dropping a catch; and with the bat, he was lithe, jaunty and handsome, possessing a range of strokes to match his natural intent. It was only his impetuosity that got the better of him at times.
Here, with no one else to rely on, he rebuilt the innings with calculated singles and twos to the longer part of the ground. His fifty came off 70-odd balls as India went to lunch at 106 for 7. His next 50 runs came in about 30 balls, but it was not until he went past hundred that he had traded the bat he was using for a shoulder-less Slazenger WG, a bat previously used to vicious effect by Lance Cairns, the New Zealand allrounder, and wrought mayhem. All his six sixes are said to have come in this period, as he ransacked 75 runs from his last 37 or 38 balls. The ninth-wicket partnership produced 126 runs, of which Syed Kirmani’s contribution was 24, the second-highest score of the innings. Kapil scored 66% of India’s runs.
Here are a few numbers for perspective and to illustrate how far ahead of its times this innings was. This was the first ODI hundred by a Indian; the 175 was then the biggest individual ODI score ever; the 150 mark had been breached only three times in ODIs till then; Kapil’s strike rate (126.81) was nearly 50% higher than the top strike rates of the era – Viv Richards, the platinum standard then, strutted around in the mid-eighties and most Indian batters hovered in the 60s; and the average run rate in the 1983 World Cup was 4.08.
Show me an outlier performance of this magnitude, when survival depended on only one pair of shoulders, a performance that went on to impact the game profoundly, and I will concede without murmur. Till then, this will stay for me, without doubt, the greatest World Cup performance. This didn’t keep the Indian dream alive, it created the dream.
And we all know what followed.
Express rehearsal: de Silva’s 66 in the semis was overshadowed by his hundred in the final, but was no less important
© Getty Images
Aravinda de Silva
66, and 1 for 3, India vs Sri Lanka, semi-final, Eden Gardens, 1996
By Andrew Fidel Fernando
It’s not as if Aravinda de Silva had stumbled through the tournament or anything. There had been a 91 off 86 balls against Zimbabwe, and 145 off 115 in a record-setting team total against Kenya.
But if trumpets were being blown for Sri Lanka through their first four matches in the 1996 World Cup, they were being blown for someone else. Sanath Jayasuriya, aided by Romesh Kaluwitharana, was setting cricketing imaginations ablaze. A little team, orchestrating a little revolution. No side had so successfully knocked the daylights out of the opposition’s attack inside the first 15 overs.
De Silva barely batted in those.
It’s said that you are either born great, achieve greatness or have greatness thrust upon you. Twenty-seven years later, most agree that de Silva is great. And yet, it is possible he didn’t tread any of these paths. He instead gave off the air of someone who wandered accidentally into greatness. A child chasing a bubble through a park all the way to the ice-cream van.
In the ’80s, and early ’90s, he’d been a batter capable of dizzying majesty – his 161cm frame hooking, cutting and driving some of the best to ever play. But they liked him and could sing his praises then partly because Sri Lanka rarely won.
Then de Silva went to Kent for an English county season in 1995, and found some consistency. Or was it the Sri Lankan cricket establishment who suddenly saw him in a new light?
In any case, when the World Cup rolled around, Arjuna Ranatunga believed in him completely.
To everyone else, Ranatunga gave a role:
– You hit over the top while the field is in
– You anchor the innings from No. 3
– You rebuild when wickets have fallen
– You take wickets with the new ball
– You bowl tight spells until the ball is old enough for the slow bowlers
– You choke the opposition with spin
De Silva’s was the only talent Ranatunga did not bind to his own imagination. Perhaps he knew he couldn’t have.
De Silva gave off the air of someone who wandered accidentally into greatness. A child chasing a bubble through a park all the way to the ice-cream van
Our guy walked into Eden Gardens, 100,000 fans baying for India, the score one run for two wickets, soon to become 35 for 3.
Who would start crashing boundaries in that situation? Someone who wandered into the ground like a child chasing a bubble through the park.
It is possible that a Sri Lankan has played the greatest Test innings ever, and yet also somehow also possible that there is no greater Sri Lankan innings than this one at Eden Gardens. De Silva, opening the face, running a fast Anil Kumble delivery through deep third. De Silva, closing the face, whipping Venkatesh Prasad through backward square leg.
Halfway through this tournament, he insisted on playing with a heavier bat than he was used to, and selector Sidath Wettimuny tells this story best:
“Aravinda said: ‘You know, Sachin Tendulkar uses a very heavy bat. Maybe if I use a heavy bat like this, I can just get bat to ball and it will go for four.’ He had never, ever batted with a bat like this before. He just chose it on a whim. Can you believe it? I was sceptical but I kept my mouth shut.”
If there were a Sri Lanka Cricket award for keeping your mouth shut, Wettimuny dominates the category, because de Silva is then imperious with his new bat. His bat barely appears to make contact. The ball only reappears when it is jumping off the boundary rope into the advertising hoardings. De Silva hit 56 of his runs through boundaries. He made 66 off 47 in the end.
There are plenty who will say that de Silva’s performance in the final, against Australia, is superior. He hit a near-flawless 107 not out from 124, took 3 for 42 off nine overs with the ball, and two catches besides. Those people are right. The opposition attack featured two all-time greats in Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. De Silva dismissed Ricky Ponting, Mark Taylor, and Ian Healy.
If this whole exercise is an appeal to logic, then the de Silva of the final is the clear winner. There is no one who has done all that in as big a game. There is no one who has come close.
But for the sake of fun, let’s nominate this mere 66. An innings which, when read on a scoresheet in 2023, seems normal enough. But which in its context was epoch-defining, as well as incandescent in its audacity.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
movies
New Animated Movies Coming to Netflix in 2023, 2024 and Beyond – What’s on Netflix
Pictures via Netflix / Illustration by What’s on Netflix
A host of new Netflix Original animated feature films are set to arrive throughout the remainder of 2023, into 2024, and beyond. Below is our comprehensive list of all the animated movies coming soon to Netflix.
Below, we’ll look at their big slate of movies, either confirmed for 2023, 2024, or in development, and keep this post bookmarked as we’ll keep it updated as time goes on.
Also, don’t forget those in the United States will be treated to all the Netflix Original animated feature films listed below and the entire output of DreamWorks, Illumination, and Sony Pictures Animation.
Before digging in, we want to update you on a few animated feature films that are no longer being developed. Escape from Hat we can confirm, is no longer in development at all at Netflix. High in the Clouds is still in development but no longer tied to Netflix.
Animated Movies Confirmed for Netflix in Fall 2023
Leo
Director: Robert Smigel, Robert Marianetti, David Wachtenheim
Cast: Adam Sandler, Bill Burr, Cecily Strong, Jason Alexander, Rob Schneider, Sadie Sandler, Sunny Sandler, Jackie Sandler
Coming to Netflix: November 21st, 2023
Picture: Netflix
Previously set up at STX Entertainment, Adam Sandler leads the voice cast for this new animated feature film about a 74-year-old lizard Leo, who has been stuck in the same Florida classroom for decades with his terrarium mate turtle.
Chicken Run 2: Dawn of the Nugget
Director: Sam Fell
Studio: Aardman Animation
Coming to Netflix: December 15th, 2023
Picture: Aardman Animation
If you can believe it, it’ll have been 23 years since DreamWorks released the original Chicken Run by the time this sequel comes out.
Now, an all-star cast comes together for a new entry. Among the voice cast for the new entry include Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones), Zachary Levi (Chuck), and Thandiwe Newton (Westworld).
Here’s what you can expect from the new entry:
“When Ginger and Rocky hatch a little girl called Molly, Ginger’s happy ending seems complete. But back on the mainland the whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat. For Ginger and her team – even if it means putting their own hard-won freedom at risk – this time, they’re breaking in!”
The Bad Guys Holiday Special
Picture: DreamWorks
Following the 2022 animated DreamWorks movie, Netflix is set to release a holiday special set just before the events of the movie.
Here’s what you can expect:
“There’s nothing the Bad Guys love more than Christmas morning — because while everyone is home opening presents, it’s the perfect time to execute their city-wide holiday heist. But when Christmas is unexpectedly canceled, the Bad Guys must do the unthinkable: reignite the city’s holiday spirit by giving instead of taking.”
It’s unclear whether the new animated special will be coming to Netflix globally or whether it’ll be labeled as a Netflix Original, but we do know it’s releasing in 2023 (almost certainly sometime between November and December).
New Animated Movies Coming to Netflix in 2024
In Your Dreams
Director: Alex Woo
Picture: Netflix
Kuko Studios (Go! Go! Cory Carson) and Sony Picture Animation are behind this new animated feature film with Alex Woo.
Per Netflix, here’s what you can expect:
“A perfect family? Siblings who get along? Yeah… in your dreams. This is a comedy adventure about Stevie and her brother Elliot who magically travel into the world of dreams with the mission of finding The Sandman who will grant them their ultimate wish — saving their parents’ marriage. The kids are total opposites, making them an unlikely duo to navigate the absurdity of their own subconscious. Along their journey, they discover that as long as they have each other, they can face anything, even their worst nightmare.”
Gregg Taylor and Tim Hahn to produce, with Erik Benson serving as co-director.
Orion and the Dark
Director: Sean Charmatz
Writer: Charlie Kaufman
Cast: Jacob Tremblay and Paul Walter Hauser
Orion and the Dark – DreamWorks Animation © 2023
Acquired from DreamWorks Animation, this movie is based on the book by Emma Yarlett. It tells the story of a young elementary school kid with a complex personality but, most importantly, is afraid of the dark, with the dark manifesting into a creature and paying him a visit. Can he overcome his fear? You’ll find out in 2024.
Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie
Director: Liza Johnson
Cast: Carolyn Lawrence, Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Doug Lawrence, Clancy Brown, Mary Jo Catlett, Jill Talley, Craig Robinson, Grey Griffin, Johnny Knoxville, Loretta Devine, Wanda Sykes
Picture: Netflix
Rumored to be in development for years, a Sandy Spongebob movie spin-off was originally headed to Netflix in 2023 but will now hit the service in 2024.
Per Netflix, here’s what you can expect from the live-action and animated hybrid movie:
“Bikini Bottom has been stolen! Sandy Cheeks and SpongeBob watch in disbelief as everyone’s favorite town is scooped out of the ocean by a sinister, mysterious company. Now, Sandy and SpongeBob must go on an epic quest to Sandy’s home state of Texas and enlist her family to help save Patrick, Squidward, Mr. Krabs and the rest of the gang before time runs out.”
That Christmas
Studio: Locksmith Animation
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Director: Simon Otto
Producer: Nicole P. Hearon, Adam Tandy
Writer: Richard Curti
Picture: Netflix
This new animated feature film set around Christmas is based on the children’s books by Richard Curtis.
Here’s what you can expect from the story:
“That Christmas follows a series of entwined tales about love and loneliness, family and friends, and Santa Claus making a big mistake, not to mention an enormous number of turkeys!”
The new movie is expected to arrive in December 2024.
Thelma the Unicorn
Director: Jared Hess, Lynn Wang
Producer: Pam Coats
Picture: Netflix
This movie is based on the novel by award-winning Australian children’s author Aaron Blabey. Netflix first picked it up in 2019.
When a rare pink and glitter-filled moment of fate makes Thelma the Pony’s wish of being a unicorn come true, she rises to instant international pop-superstar stardom, but at an unexpected cost. Thelma the Unicorn is a joyful story about learning to love who you are… even if you don’t have sparkles.
Ultraman
Director: Shannon Tindle and John Aoshima
Studio: Industrial Light & Magic, Netflix Animation and Tsuburaya Productions
Picture: Netflix
Verging more into the anime territory is a new animated movie on the beloved Japanese superhero.
The creator of Netflix’s Lost Ollie is behind this new feature film, which is about a superstar baseball player returning to Japan to carry on the legacy of being Ultraman.
We’ve got more on Ultraman in our full preview for the upcoming movie.
Wallace & Gromit
Directors: Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham.
Studio: Aardman Animation
The duo of Wallace & Gromit first graced British screens in 1989 and has seen numerous spin-offs, series, and feature films since, but now they’re headed back to the big screen.
The BBC will distribute the movie in the United Kingdom and Netflix everywhere else.
The film “sees Gromit becoming concerned that Wallace is a little too dependent on his inventions. When Wallace’s “Smart Gnome” develops a mind of its own, it falls to Gromit to battle sinister forces and save his master…or Wallace may never be able to invent again!”
This title has been confirmed to come to Netflix in 2024, although we’re expecting some updates publicly in 2023.
New Animated Movies Coming to Netflix in 2025
The Twits
Studio: Netflix Animation and Jellyfish Pictures
Picture: Netflix
Originally set to be a Netflix Original series, The Twits was later retooled as a movie. What’s on Netflix was the first to report that Ralph Breaks the Internet writer Phil Johnston, would be attached to the project, with that confirmation coming in September 2023.
Here’s the premise of the new movie:
“Mr. and Mrs. Twit are the meanest, smelliest, nastiest people in the world who also happen to own and operate the most disgusting, most dangerous, most idiotic amusement park in the world, Twitlandia.”
Undated Netflix Original Animated Movies in Development
Please note: any titles listed below are subject to change.
I, Chihuahua
Studio: Netflix Animation
Director: Jorge R. Gutiérrez
Picture: Netflix
Announced in March 2022 is the new animated feature film from the director of Netflix’s excellent mini-series Maya and the Three. It’ll feature Gabriel Iglesias and is about a young Chacho who wears a wrestling mask to become a legendary fighter.
K-Pop: Demon Hunters
Studio: Sony Animation
Picture: Sony Pictures Animation
Originally set for a theatrical release, we learned in 2022 that K-Pop: Demon Hunters is bound for Netflix. That has seemingly been confirmed by Sony’s movie chief, who says the movie will be direct-to-streaming.
Here’s what we know about the upcoming movie:
“The story of a world-renowned K-Pop girl group, as they balance their lives in the spotlight with their secret identities as bad-ass demon hunters, set against a colorful backdrop of fashion, food, style, and the most popular music movement of this generation.”
Onyeka And The Academy Of The Sun
Studios: Westbrook Studios
Picture: Tolá Okogwu
First announced in February 2022, this new movie comes from the production company helmed by Will Smith with David Oyelowo to also produce.
The story is about a teenager who discovers that she has superpowers and then travels to Nigeria to learn more about her origins. There, she found a threat to her newfound magical community.
Pashmina
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Studios: Bend It Films, Hyde Park Entertainment
This animated musical movie tells the tale of an Indian-American girl who rediscovers her heritage via a magical pashmina.
The movie was announced back in early 2019.
Alongside the announcement, Ashok Amritraj said: “Pashmina is a wonderful coming-of-age story that will resonate with anyone who has ever felt like an outsider, and one that I believe Netflix families around the world will enjoy experiencing together.”
Steps
Director: Alyce Tzue
Studio: Netflix Animation
First announced in March 2021, this new musical animated feature film will come from Amy Poehler’s production company, Paper Kite Productions.
In a spin on the classic Cinderella story, two stepsisters are overlooked for marriage by the Prince and embark on an epic journey, realizing that their own perfect fairytales might be different from what they originally thought.
Sulwe
Director: Unknown
Studio: Unknown
Based on Lupita Nyong’o’s children’s book, this animated comedy was first announced in February 2021.
Sulwe has the darkest skin in her family and in her school. She wishes for her skin to be lighter, but through a supernatural experience, she comes to love her dark skin color.
The Buried Giant
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Writer: Dennis Kelly
Guillermo del Toro at the EE BAFTA’s – Image Credit: Getty Images
Based on the book of the same name from author Kazuo Ishiguro, this new animated movie is set in a fantasy medieval England and follows a family searching for their lost son.
The Family Treehorn
Director: Ron Howard
Studio: Animal Logic
Also known as The Shrinking Of Treehorn, this movie based on the book by Florence Parry Heide was acquired from Paramount Animation and produced by Netflix’s internal studio, Animal Logic.
The movie is Ron Howard’s first animated feature film and is about a young man who begins shrinking in size after playing a strange board game, which goes largely unnoticed by his parents.
The Goon
Director: Patrick Osborne
Studio: Blur Studio, Dark Horse Entertainment
One way or another, this animated feature film based on the comic has been in development for over a decade starting its life as a Kickstarter project.
In the summer of 2022, it was announced that Netflix would pick up the title and distribute the movie, with the studio behind Love, Death and Robots working on the feature film.
The Sea Beast 2
Studio: Netflix Animation
Director: Chris Williams
Picture: Netflix
Following the release of The Sea Beast in 2022, the movie became one of Netflix’s biggest animated hits and will be returning for a sequel.
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep
Studio: Studio Mir
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf
Following the success of The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, released in 2021, the team behind that entry is working on a brand-new animated movie called Sirens of the Deep.
The new movie is expected to adapt Andrzej Sapkowski’s short story A Little Sacrifice.
The Witch Boy
Studio: Vertigo Entertainment
Director: Minkyu Lee (although reportedly no longer)
Picture: Netflix
Based on the graphic novels by Molly Know Ostertag, this animated movie is being produced by Vertigo Entertainment (The Lego Movie), with HAIM involved in the soundtrack.
In a secret, magical community where girls are born to be witches and boys grow into shapeshifters, Aster is surprised to discover his emerging and extraordinary witch powers. When a mysterious danger threatens his world, Aster must embark on a journey to uncover the truth behind himself, his powers, and everything magical.
TREES!
Producer: Dan Lin
Executive Producer: Ryan Halprin
Writer: Jennifer Celotta
Rideback (the team behind Netflix’s upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender) is working on a new animated feature focusing on Trees.
Untitled Steve Box Animated Film
Director: Steve Box
Studio: SUPERPROD Animation
Country of Origin: France
Picture: Netflix
Steve Box is behind the beloved Wallace & Gromit feature film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were Rabbit and will be bringing a new yet-to-be-titled feature film to Netflix.
Here’s the premise of the new film:
“Struggling to feed themselves with the proceeds of their ever-inventive, but low-yield heists, Tibbles and his rag-tag gang of stray cats are forced to go undercover to pull of the biggest heist of their lives, posing as the thing they most despise – the pampered pets of suburbia.”
A few notes to round out this article. First, let’s run through a few titles that are expected to come to Netflix but have limited information:
- Ronnie Del Carmen is working on a yet-to-be-titled Netflix animated feature film, although we do know it’s based on lore and mythology from the Philippines.
- The Red Wall books by Brian Jacques are being adapted into multiple titles, including movies with Patrick McHale’s writing.
- Tunga – Animated musical from Zimbabwe-born Godwin Jabangwe.
And finally, a few animated feature films no longer in development at Netflix:
- Animal Farm is reportedly no longer at Netflix.
- Cattywumpus, an animated feature film by Gore Verbinski, was previously headed to Netflix but is no longer developing.
- Previously announced for Netflix, it’s unclear whether Andy Serkis’s Animal Farm will be headed to the service anymore.
- Bubbles, the animated movie about Michael Jackson from Taika Watiti, is no longer at Netflix.
- Ember was scrapped in December 2022, which was going to be the next animated feature from the director of Klaus.
What new animated feature film are you most looking forward to on Netflix?
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Netflix’s New Releases Coming in September 2023 – Hollywood Reporter
Sex Education, Spy Kids: Armageddon and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar are among the high-profile new projects debuting on Netflix in September.
Sex Education‘s fourth and final season will start streaming on Sept. 21, with action shifting from the closed Moordale Secondary to the progressive Cavendish College and Emma Mackey’s Maeve in America. Creator Laurie Nunn said that as the writers were working on season four “it became clear that this was the right time to graduate.” The final season sees the return of stars Asa Butterfield, Ncuti Gatwa, Aimee Lou Wood, Dua Saleh, Mimi Keene, Kedar Williams-Stirling and Chinenye Ezeudu. Gillian Anderson will also return as Otis’ (Butterfield) sex therapist mom. But the new settings bring fresh faces in Anthony Lexa, Felix Mufti and Alexandra James, who make up the popular group, The Coven; a rival sex therapist for Otis, named O (Thaddea Graham); and Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy, who joins Maeve’s world in the U.S.
The fifth installment of the Spy Kids franchise introduces a new generation of secret agents as two kids, played by Everly Carganilla and Connor Esterson, have to become spies like their parents, played by Gina Rodriguez and Zachary Levi, in order to save the world from a game developer’s powerful computer virus. Director Robert Rodriguez teamed up with son Racer Max to co-write the latest film, saying in part “It’s been very exciting for me and my kids to work on this film together as a family, for other families to enjoy.”
And Netflix jumps into the world of Roald Dahl, after acquiring the author’s catalog in a blockbuster deal in 2021, with four shorts dropping at the end of this month. The series of films, all directed by Wes Anderson, begins with Benedict Cumberbatch starrer The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar on Sept. 27, followed by The Swan (Sept. 28), The Rat Catcher (Sept. 29) and Poison (Sept. 30). The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, based on Dahl’s 1977 story of the same name, sees Cumberbatch play a wealthy man who tries to learn how to see without using his eyes as a gambling technique. The short — also starring Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, Rupert Friend and Richard Ayoade — had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where The Hollywood Reporter‘s Leslie Felperin called the film “small but perfectly crafted.”
Additionally, after Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of two murders, Netflix returns to the powerful family’s South Carolina community for a second season of the Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal docuseries. The new batch of three episodes of what’s been called “Southern Succession“ will feature firsthand accounts from key figures, including Curtis Edward Smith (aka Cousin Eddie), former houskeeper Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson and Libby Murdaugh’s caregiver Mushelle “Shelly” Smith.
The fifth and final season of NBC medical drama New Amsterdam hits Netflix on Wednesday, with the last 13 episodes of the Ryan Eggold-led series that wrapped earlier this year, joining previous seasons on the streamer.
Later this month, the streamer will add four-part docuseries Encounters. The show, produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television in partnership with Boardwalk Pictures and Vice Studios, tells firsthand stories of experiences with otherworldly phenomena, with each episode devoted to a different sighting across the globe, including strange lights over the sky in Texas and an alien encounter in Zimbabwe.
At the end of the month, music video director Grant Singer makes his feature debut with the crime thriller Reptile, starring Justin Timberlake, Benicio del Toro and Alicia Silverstone, the latter two reuniting after 1997’s Excess Baggage. In Reptile, del Toro’s Tom tries to uncover the truth behind the brutal murder of a young real estate agent, with her boyfriend Will (Timberlake) quickly becoming the prime suspect. In her review of the murder mystery, which had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival, THR‘s arts and culture critic Lovia Gyarkye, says Singer “crowds Reptile with gripping sequences, suspenseful moments, dramatic pauses and surprising levity — elements that, despite their overuse, keep the audience on edge and strategically blur the lines between dreams and reality.”
And Netflix returns to the tent with the start of a new season of The Great British Baking Show on Sept. 29. This year, new host Alison Hammond joins Paul Hollywood, Prue Leith and Noel Fielding.
Other projects coming to Netflix this September include Love Is Blind season five and Power Rangers: Cosmic Fury, which will feature the return of Blue Ranger Billy (played by David Yost after he returned in the Once and Always anniversary special.)
Earlier this month, Netflix added movies Don’t Worry Darling, Love at First Sight, El Conde, Fences, Field of Dreams, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Arrival, Baby Mama, Hacksaw Ridge, Love Again, Matilda, Miss Congeniality, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, Stand by Me, Superbad, Up in the Air, Vice, The Wolf of Wall Street, both Anchorman movies and the Jaws franchise.
And the streamer has added new seasons of Love Is Blind: After the Alter, S.W.A.T., Top Boy, Virgin River, Selling the OC and the docuseries Wrestlers as well as past HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and The Pacific.
Missed what came to Netflix last month? Check out the August 2023 additions here.
Read on for the complete list of titles hitting Netflix this September.
Sept. 1
Arrival
Baby Mama
Couples Retreat
A Day and a Half
Disenchantment: Part 5
Don’t Worry Darling
8 Mile
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Fences
Field of Dreams
Friday Night Plan
Hacksaw Ridge
Happy Ending
Jaws
Jaws 2
Jaws 3
Jaws: The Revenge
Kung Fu Panda 2
Land of the Lost
Love is Blind: After the Altar: Season 4
Matilda
Miss Congeniality
National Security
One Piece Adventure of Nebulandia
One Piece Episode of East blue – Luffy and His Four Crewmates’ Great Adventure
One Piece Episode of Skypiea
One Piece Film: Gold
One Piece Heart of Gold
One Piece: 3D2Y – Overcome Ace’s Death! Luffy’s Vow to His Friends
Public Enemies
S.W.A.T.: Season 6
Stand by Me
Superbad
U-571
Up in the Air
Vice
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Woody Woodpecker
Sept. 2
Love Again
Sept. 3
Crank
Crank 2: High Voltage
Is She the Wolf?
Sept. 5
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs
Sept. 6
Infamy
Predators
Reporting For Duty
Scout’s Honor: The Secret Files of the Boy Scouts of America
6ixtynin9 The Series
Tahir’s House
Sept. 7
Dear Child
GAMERA -Rebirth-
Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight: Season 3
Top Boy: Season 3
Virgin River: Season 5
What If
Sept. 8
A Time Called You
Burning Body
Pokémon: To be a Pokémon Master: Ultimate Journeys: The Series: Part 1
Rosa Peral’s Tapes
Selling The OC: Season 2
Spy Ops
Sept. 12
Glow Up: Season 5
Michelle Wolf: It’s Great to Be Here
The Wolf of Wall Street
Sept. 13
Class Act
Freestyle
Wrestlers
Sept. 14
Barbie – A Touch of Magic: Season 1
Ehrengard: The Art of Seduction
Once Upon a Crime
Thursday’s Widows
Sept. 15
Ancient Aliens: Seasons 6-7
Band of Brothers
The Club: Part 2
El Conde
Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons: Season 7
Intervention: Season 22
Love at First Sight
Miseducation
The Pacific
Surviving Summer: Season 2
Wipeout Part 1
Sept. 16
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2
Sept. 18
My Little Pony: Make Your Mark: Chapter 5
Sept. 19
Kountry Wayne: A Woman’s Prayer
The Saint of Second Chances
Sept. 20
Hard Broken
Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal: Season 2
New Amsterdam: Season 5
Sept. 21
KENGAN ASHURA: Season 2
Scissor Seven: Season 4
Sex Education: Season 4
Sept. 22
The Black Book
How To Deal With a Heartbreak
Love Is Blind: Season 5
Spy Kids: Armageddon
Sept. 25
Little Baby Bum: Music Time
Sept. 26
Who Killed Jill Dando?
Sept. 27
Encounters
Overhaul
Street Flow 2
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Sept. 28
Castlevania: Nocturne
The Darkness within La Luz del Mundo
Love is in the Air
The Swan
Sept. 29
Choona
Do Not Disturb
Great British Baking Show
Nowhere
Power Rangers Cosmic Fury
The Rat Catcher
Reptile
Sept. 30
Poison
movies
Trust No One. Suspect Everyone. Casting Revealed for New CTV … – Bell Media
Tags: @CTV_PR, @CTV, @TheLede_ca, @TraitorsCanada, @KarineVanasse, #TheTraitorsCanada
TORONTO (September 18, 2023) – Treachery, trickery, and disloyalty. This is one murder mystery to die for. CTV announced today the cast for its new original unscripted competition series THE TRAITORS CANADA. Hosted by award-winning actress Karine Vanasse (CARDINAL), 20 of Canada’s most cunning contestants, a mix of famous faces and everyday Canadians, play the ultimate murder mystery game for a chance to win a cash prize of up to $100,000. As previously announced, THE TRAITORS CANADA anchors CTV’s fall lineup, airing Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, CTV.ca and the CTV app, beginning Oct. 2.
Living in a historic manor in the Montréal area, the 20 players compete in a series of missions with the goal of building and winning the cash prize fund. The catch? Hidden amongst the Faithful contestants are Traitors, who attempt to deceive, manipulate, and eliminate the Faithful and claim the prize for themselves instead of sharing it amongst the group. Cloaked under the cover of darkness, the devious Traitors murder the Faithful one by one in a treacherous spree while the players try to uncover the Traitors and banish them from the game. If the Faithful contestants banish all Traitors, they will share the final prize, but if a Traitor makes it to the end, they get to walk away with all the money. In this psychological adventure of prize-building challenges, savage accusations, and diabolical murders, will the Traitors be unmasked in time?
The 20 players set to compete and deceive each other on Season 1 of THE TRAITORS CANADA are:
Collin Johnson (he/him)
Age: 37
Hometown: Thunder Bay, Ont.
Occupation: Transit Operator
Crystal Mayes (she/her)
Age: 50
Hometown: Saskatoon, Sask.
Occupation: Nurse
Domenic Ielasi (he/him)
Age: 32
Hometown: Hamilton, Ont.
Occupation: Project Management
Donna Hartt (she/her)
Age: 53
Hometown: Calgary
Occupation: Psychic Medium
Erika Casupanan (she/her)
Age: 34
Hometown: Toronto
Occupation: Former Communications Manager / Winner of SURVIVOR (Season 41)
Gurleen Maan (she/her)
Age: 35
Hometown: Abbotsford, B.C.
Occupation: Third Generation Farmer / FARMING FOR LOVE (Season 1)
Gurpyar Bains (he/him)
Age: 25
Hometown: Calgary
Occupation: Paediatric Registered Nurse
Kevin Martin (he/him)
Age: 30
Hometown: Calgary
Occupation: Champion Poker Player / BIG BROTHER CANADA (Season 5) winner
Kuzie Mujakachi (she/her)
Age: 29
Hometown: Victoria, B.C.
Occupation: 911 Operator / Miss World Zimbabwe / BIG BROTHER CANADA (Season 11)
Leroy Fontaine (he/him)
Age: 38
Hometown: Halifax
Occupation: Firefighter
Mai Nguyen (she/her)
Age: 34
Hometown: Edmonton
Occupation: Entrepreneur / BSc in Food Technology / MASTERCHEF CANADA (Seasons 4 & 7)
Mary Wisden (she/her)
Age: 31
Hometown: Courtenay, B.C.
Occupation: Twitch Streamer
Melissa Allder (she/her)
Age: 49
Hometown: London, Ont.
Occupation: Educator, High School Teacher / ESL Learning Coordinator
Melissa Best (she/her)
Age: 35
Hometown: St. John’s, Nfld.
Occupation: Realtor
Mickey Henry (he/him)
Age: 34
Hometown: Bala, Ont.
Occupation: CFO / THE AMAZING RACE CANADA (Season 2) winner
Mike D’Urzo (he/him)
Age: 39
Hometown: Toronto
Occupation: Magician/Mentalist
Miss Fiercalicious (she/her in drag; he/him/they out of drag)
Age: 27
Hometown: Toronto
Occupation: Drag Performer / CANADA’S DRAG RACE (Season 3)
Dr. Nazila Dehghani (she/her)
Age: 47
Hometown: Newmarket, Ont.
Occupation: Dentist/Doctor of Dental Surgery
Rick Campanelli, a.k.a. “Rick The Temp” (he/him)
Age: 53
Hometown: Burlington, Ont.
Occupation: Former MuchMusic VJ and Radio Host / TV Personality
Travon Smith (he/him)
Age: 28
Hometown: Toronto
Occupation: Public Relations Specialist
On the series premiere of THE TRAITORS CANADA, titled “Dead Man Walking” (Monday, Oct. 2 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, CTV.ca and the CTV app), 20 strangers arrive at a prestigious manor to take part in the ultimate murder mystery game. Amongst them are eight well-known former reality stars and 12 brand new faces. Each one of them are walking in with the same goal in mind: to unmask the traitors before either getting killed or banished from the game. The reality stars quickly realize that in this game of suspicion, their experience can be perceived as a threat and one contestant feels time is running out to win others over. Directed by Francis Côté.
For more information on the contestants competing on THE TRAITORS CANADA, including videos, bios, and exclusive content, visit CTV.ca/TheTraitorsCanada. As the go-to resource for the series, CTV.ca also includes full episodes and sneak peeks throughout the inaugural season. Viewers can also follow the series’ official accounts on social media (see list below) and official hashtag #TheTraitorsCanada for exclusive weekly content not found anywhere else.
Current sponsors of THE TRAITORS CANADA are Nissan, Jacob’s Creek, and Bell.
THE TRAITORS CANADA is produced by Entourage in association with CTV. Eric Young is Executive Producer. Nathalie Brigitte Bustos is Executive Producer and Showrunner. David Gauthier is Series Producer, Mathieu Ouellet is Missions Producer and France Racine is Producer. For Bell Media, Rachel Goldstein-Couto is Head of Development, Original Programming; Alexis McLaren is Production Executive, Original Programming; Sarah Fowlie is Head of Production, Original Programming; Carlyn Klebuc is General Manager, Original Programming; Pat DiVittorio is Vice-President, CTV and Specialty Programming. Justin Stockman is Vice-President, Content Development & Programming, Bell Media. Karine Moses is Senior Vice-President, Content Development & News, Bell Media and Vice Chair, Québec, Bell.
Originally conceived in the Netherlands by IDTV, an All3Media company, the format was further developed with the RTL Creative Unit and produced by IDTV. All3Media International represents format rights for THE TRAITORS – which has become a global TV phenomenon with adaptions in the UK, Australia, and America.
Karine Vanasse is also set to host the Québécois edition of the global franchise, LES TRAÎTRES, coming in 2024 to Noovo.
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