Mike Sampson

Mike Sampson is the Editor-in-Chief of ScreenCrush. He studied to become a lawyer and worked as an architectural planner after graduating college but neither of these professions afforded him the opportunity to watch movies and TV for a living. He previously served as the Editor-in-Chief of JoBlo.com for 10 years. He lives in New Jersey and probably spends too much time playing video games and overthinking things.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ Set Visit: All the Surprises and Secrets of Marvel’s Latest Blockbuster

Movie sets. If you’ve watched La La Land or even Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, you know they’re supposed to be glamorous. Bright lights, brighter stars, exotic locales ... So, what am I doing here in an abandoned convention center outside Atlanta?

‘Justice League’ Villain Revealed (and No, It’s Not Darkseid)

Remember when we all pretty much assumed that the Justice League villain would be Darkseid, one of the most powerful beings in the DC universe and a guy who was heavily teased throughout Batman vs. Superman? Ahh, those were the days. As Justice League continues filming in London, a new report suggests that Mr...

‘Fast and Furious’ Director Justin Lin Heads to ‘Space Jam 2’

The original Space Jam was a movie that didn’t even make $100 million and was far from a slam dunk success (listen, if you think you were making it through this post without an abundance of basketball related puns, you were sorely mistaken), but the film became something of a cult classic...

Why the ‘Ghostbusters’ Trailer Is the Most ‘Disliked’ Movie Trailer in YouTube History

The first trailer for Paul Feig’s female-led Ghostbusters remake arrived in March of this year and the reaction was almost immediately disappointing. Even among those, like us, who are excited for the Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig film, it was a poorly put together trailer that did little to inspire confidence in the finished product...

About That Time Tobey Maguire Got Fired From Spider-Man and Was Replaced by Jake Gyllenhaal

It’s 2003. Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man has just become the biggest movie of the year, grossing over $400 million (at the time, one of only four films to achieve that feat). Maguire had just wrapped filming on Seabiscuit, a prestige film that would go on to earn six Oscar nominations including Best Picture...

Paramount Faces Lawsuit Claiming They Didn’t Have Enough Product Placement in ‘Transformers 4’

I barely remember anything about Transformers 4. I had to look at IMDb to remind myself what the subtitle was (it was Age of Extinction) and I’m pretty sure this was the one with the Dinobots? But the one thing that really sticks out in my head that I’ll never quite forget about this disasterpiece is the product placement...

Mads Mikkelsen Accidentally Reveals His ‘Star Wars: Rogue One’ Character

This post contains spoilers for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. When Mads Mikkelsen was announced as joining the cast of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, most assumed he would be playing a villain, because c’mon…he’s Mads Mikkelsen. We’ve heard precious little about his character, who was conspicuously absent from the recent trailer, but now Mads is here to provide some details against his better judgm

What the F–- Is With This ‘Batman: The Killing Joke’ Trailer?

Batman: The Killing Joke is notable for being an adaptation of Alan Moore’s seminal graphic novel and for adapting that work without losing any of the brutality of the source; it was the first Batman movie to be rated R by the MPAA. Sadly, that’s about all it looks notable for based on this new trailer, which looks pretty awful...

Alien Day Brings With It Our First Look at ‘Alien: Covenant’

Yesterday was “Alien Day,” the latest “holiday” concocted by studio marketing teams to continue interest in their franchises (see also: Star Wars Day, Force Friday and Back to the Future Day). The crass commercialization can almost be overlooked because Alien Day actually had some cool events for fans, including screenings with cast members and some cool new collectibles that only the luckiest fan

Bryan Singer Says Wolverine Cameo in ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ Is ‘Birth of a New Direction’

Earlier this week came the X-Men: Apocalypse trailer that confirmed what we all suspected: Wolverine would be making an appearance in the upcoming X-Men movie after all. Most of us also assumed that decision was made because Hugh Jackman is a huge star and Wolverine is the most popular and recognizable of the X-Men and having him in the movie means more $$$...

‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’ Casts Nathan Fillion as Wonder Man

James Gunn and Nathan Fillion have worked together on a number of projects from Slither to Super to the first Guardians of the Galaxy. Fillion has become the John Ratzenberger of the works of James Gunn. That collaboration is set to continue in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol... Read More ...

Willem Dafoe Joins the Cast of ‘Justice League’ in Mysterious New Role

The Batman vs. Superman follow-up, Justice League, quietly began filming in London last week, and while there wasn’t a big splashy announcement, we do have a new and interesting bit of casting. In addition to all the many known cast members both returning — Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams — and new — J...