This month, The Smashing Machine was released in cinemas worldwide. The film is a dramatic biopic about the life of MMA fighter Mark Kerr, portrayed by none other than Dwayne Johnson.

The film is not doing well at the American box office, but the reviews are quite strong. And now the film receives support from an unexpected source, with high praise from none other than Christopher Nolan.

Praise

The Oppenheimer director is full of praise for the new film, particularly for Johnson's performance. "I think it's an incredible achievement," he says. 'I don't think you'll see a better performance this year or in most other years."

Nolan also has personal compliments for Benny Safdie, the director of The Smashing Machine who also acted in Oppenheimer. "Congratulations," Nolan tells him. "It's truly a remarkable and radical work."

Next Month

The Smashing Machine features more roles for Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader, Jerin Valel, and more. Some critics believe that Johnson has a strong chance of being nominated for an Oscar.

Millions of fans love franchises like The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, and it's easy to see why: their fantasy tales are simply incredible. Prime Video is currently working on an entirely new series that could very well become the next big hit.

The series is based on the Fourth Wing series by author Rebecca Yarros. Since 2023, three installments have already been released: Fourth Wing (In Stone Burned), Iron Flame (An Iron Flame), and Onyx Storm (Forged in Darkness). The series will eventually consist of five books.

Fourth Wing

The book series follows the fragile Violet Sorrengail. She was destined for a quiet life as a writer. Against her will, her mother, a general, forces her to undertake the life-threatening training to become a dragon rider at Basgiath War College, where weakness means a death sentence.

There, she not only has to endure grueling training but also faces cadets who want her dead. As she fights to survive, she uncovers a deep secret about the kingdom and the true nature of the war.

Prime Video

With Meredith Averill (Wednesday, Locke & Key) as showrunner, Prime Video has been working since 2023 on a TV series based on Yarros' book series. Below is a fan trailer for the series.



While things have been quiet regarding the plans, it seems only a matter of time before the series arrives. The 'romantasy' Fourth Wing is particularly popular on TikTok.

In the first six months of this year, The Eternaut, a mix of science fiction and post-apocalyptic drama, attracted huge viewership. With 156,600,000 streams from April 30 to June, the series confirms its status as an international success. The numbers illustrate that Netflix's gamble on a South American production is paying off significantly.

The Argentine series, based on the legendary comic by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano López, was launched on April 30 this year. Within a week of its release, it climbed to #1 in the Netflix Global Top 10 for non-English series, with 10.8 million views in just one week.

Plot

The storyline takes place in a devastated Buenos Aires, where a deadly snowstorm, an alien invasion in disguise, decimates the population. The survivors, led by Juan Salvo, must organize themselves, where trust, fear, and secrets come under pressure. The series opts for realistic characters and complex group dynamics rather than grandiose spectacle.

Notably, the ambitious production setup includes six episodes, a budget of about 15 million dollars, and filming at dozens of real locations and virtual environments. It has now been confirmed that a second and final season is in the works consisting of eight episodes, further aiming to solidify the success of The Eternaut.

Significance In Argentina

The original comic by Héctor Germán Oesterheld was published in installments in the late 1950s and became a classic work in Latin American literature. In the context of the political instability of that time, El Eternauta became an allegory for collective struggle against oppression. The alien invasion in the story was often read as a metaphor for authoritarian regimes and the fear of losing humanity.