Julia Roberts
‘Leave the World Behind’ Director Sam Esmail Explains His Controversial Ending
[This story contains major spoilers about the ending of Leave the World Behind, now streaming on Netflix.] Plenty of people tried to talk Leave the World Behind director Sam Esmail out of his film’s controversial ending — even Esmail tried to talk himself out of his film’s controversial ending. But the filmmaker responsible for projects including […]
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Dermot Mulroney on a ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ Sequel With Julia Roberts: “Maybe It’s Time”
Dermot Mulroney said he is down for a My Best Friend’s Wedding sequel with Julia Roberts. While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter at Monday’s Anyone But You premiere in New York, the actor said he was “thrilled” to hear his former co-star was also open to reprising her role from the 1997 rom-com. Roberts recently […]
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Julia Roberts Reveals She Passed on ‘You’ve Got Mail’ But Has No Regrets: “It’s All Kind of Destiny”
Julia Roberts has starred in her fair share of rom-coms throughout her acting career, but she revealed there’s a beloved film that she passed on. During an appearance on Thursday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, the Leave the World Behind star was asked by a fan if there were any roles […]
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Why Sam Esmail Cast America’s Sweetheart Julia Roberts as a “Karen”
Sam Esmail is baffled by the desire for adaptations to be faithful to their source material. “That’s not the point,” says the man who brought us Mr. Robot and Homecoming. “The point is, you’re making a great film, and if you’re handcuffing yourself to the source material, you’re going to get into a lot of […]
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‘Leave the World Behind’ Director Sam Esmail on Collaborating with the Obamas and Telling Another Cyberattack Story After ‘Mr. Robot’
Writer-director Sam Esmail premiered his latest film Leave the World Behind at the opening night of AFI Fest on Wednesday night, where he opened up about getting notes on the film from the Obamas — who served as producers — and comparisons of the project to his past work on Mr. Robot. The film is […]
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‘Leave the World Behind’ Review: Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali in Sam Esmail’s Not Quite Satisfying Dystopian Vision
Ethan Hawke also stars in the AFI Fest opener, based on the best-selling suspense novel by Rumaan Alam.
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What the ‘Leave the World Behind’ Adaptation (and a Julia Roberts-Starring Role) Means to Rumaan Alam
When Rumaan Alam released his third novel, Leave the World Behind, the world was six months into a deeply traumatizing — and claustrophobic — pandemic. The book opens on a white family vacationing at a rural Long Island Airbnb as the Black family who owns the home knocks at the door asking for refuge from a […]
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‘Leave the World Behind’ Trailer Stars Julia Roberts in Obamas-Produced Netflix Thriller
There are a lot of big names on this one. Netflix’s official trailer for Leave the World Behind, an apocalyptic thriller, stars Ethan Hawke and Julia Roberts and is executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama. The premise: “Amanda (Roberts) and her husband Clay (Hawke), rent a luxurious home for the weekend with their kids, Archie (Charlie Evans) […]
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Julia Roberts Confronts the Apocalypse in ‘Leave the World Behind’ Trailer
Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke’s Amanda and Clay Sandford get a fateful midnight knock at the door in the teaser trailer for Netflix’s Leave the World Behind, which dropped Monday. “In my line of work, you have to understand the patterns that govern the world. That can help you see the future,” Mahershala Ali’s G.H. […]
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‘All of Us Strangers,’ ‘American Fiction’ and ‘The Bikeriders’ Among Selections of AFI Fest
Next month’s AFI Fest is coming into focus. The Los Angeles event — headquartered at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatre and set to take place from Oct. 25-29 — has revealed its full lineup including critical favorites that have emerged from the festival circuit so far and a world premiere from director Rob Reiner, Albert Brooks: Defending […]
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Barack Obama Gave Script Notes on Netflix’s ‘Leave the World Behind,’ Starring Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke
Director Sam Esmail revealed that former President Barack Obama gave him notes on the script for Netflix’s adaptation of author Rumaan Alam’s Leave the World Behind. In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, published online Wednesday, the Mr. Robot creator said that he actually turned to Obama when he was penning the original drafts because he […]
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AFI Fest to Open With World Premiere of Sam Esmail’s ‘Leave the World Behind’ Starring Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali and Ethan Hawke
Sam Esmail’s Leave the World Behind has a world premiere lined up. The apocalyptic thriller, starring Oscar winners Julia Roberts and Mahershala Ali opposite Ethan Hawke, Myha’la Herrold, Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evans and Kevin Bacon, will open the 37th installment of AFI Fest at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatre on Oct. 25. Esmail, an alum from […]
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