The current movie business has been a sobering wake-up call for a number of directors who were living high on the hog in Hollywood for most of the 1980s and 1990s, and one of them is certainly Oliver Stone.

At one time Stone taking on the likes of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden would have had the major studios going into a frenzied bidding war. But the times of studios making movies like Stone classics "Platoon,""JFK," and even "Natural Born Killers" is long gone.

If it doesn't have a superhero or franchise possibilities they won't touch it, and Stone isn't into doing either of those.

So with "Snowden" Stone hooked up with independent distributor Open Road Films, the same company that released last year's best picture Oscar winner, "Spotlight," but doesn't have the deep pockets of a major studio Stone is used to.

However, the project was able to land big names like Joseph Gordon-Levitt to play Snowden and Shailene Woodley as his girlfriend, Lindsay Mills.

In many ways, Stone looks at the major points in the Snowden whistle-blowing with a steady hand, blending in nicely the false promises during the Obama campaign for president of not being like the previous administration when it comes to NSA privacy tactics and the chemistry between Gordon-Levitt and Mills is very believable (I even got used to Gordon-Levitt's impersonation of Snowden's voice).

But then the movie suddenly tries to be a thriller and that's when everything falls off the rails.

The last third of the film follows Snowden while he's in Hawaii and a series of events leads him to grabbing classified files which he'll then hand to journalist Glenn Greenwald (played by Zachary Quinto) and filmmaker Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) to release to the public.

The building of tension in these scenes and the race for Snowden to take the files from his office before anyone can notice is so forced it's comical.

Had Stone put these events in the continued dramatic tone of the rest of the movie, it would have had a better payoff in the end.

It's a tactic that movies often use to get people to the theater (I get it, hacking and displaying the world of computer geeks is a boring topic), embellish the "based on a true story" angle to fit in some things that will build the theatrics of the story. 

In fact, one of the books the movie is based on is a fictionalized account of Snowden's story written by his Russian lawyer titled "Time of the Octopus." (The other book, "The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man," is authored by someone who has never met Snowden).

But trying to make the Snowden story a thriller wasn't convincing at all.

Want a better (and more truthful) story about Snowden, go stream Poitras' Oscar-winning documentary on the events that transpired after Snowden took the documents, "Citizenfour."

"Snowden" is currently screening at the Toronto International Film Festival and will be in theaters September 16.

SEE ALSO: Oscar favorite "Arrival" is one of the best movies of the year — and a big surprise

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: I waited in line for 9 hours to see 'Hamilton' — here's what it was like

Now that the summer of slumps is behind us, it's time to get into the more serious fall movies that will bring powerful performances and, perhaps, some Oscar gold. 

This fall includes anticipated movies like the all-star cast in the reboot of "The Magnificent Seven," Oliver Stone's "Snowden," and Tom Hanks playing the Miracle on the Hudson pilot in the Clint Eastwood movie "Sully."

There are also smaller films that should have your attention like the Sundance hit "The Birth of a Nation," the powerful "The Light Between Oceans," and the Amy Adams sci-fi trip "Arrival."

Here are 27 movies coming out in the coming months that you should not miss:

SEE ALSO: This startup wants to make sure you never wait in line at the movies again

"The Light Between Oceans" - out now

Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander prove they are two of the top actors working today as they play a couple whose lives crumble after rescuing a baby adrift in a rowboat. Based on the M.L. Stedman novel of the same name, the movie is a visually stunning look at sacrifice. 

"Max Rose" - out now

This is Jerry Lewis' first leading movie role since Martin Scorsese's "The King of Comedy" in the 80s. The now-90-year-old legend delivers an emotionally charged dramatic performance as a jazz musician who struggles with the death of his wife and the possibility that she was unfaithful to him. 

"Morgan" - out now

In this thriller Kate Mara ("Fantastic Four") plays a risk-management consultant who has to determine whether to terminate an artificial being who was created in a lab.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Sully" took flight in theaters this weekend and has landed with a solid $35.5 million to take the top spot at the box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Clint Eastwood-directed film about the Miracle on the Hudson stars Tom Hanks as Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who made an emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in 2009, minutes after taking off.

The Warner Bros. film cost a reported $60 million to produce and scored particularly well with audiences.

Taking second place with $15 million is the Screen Gems thriller "When the Bough Breaks" starring Morris Chestnut and Regina Hill.

Holdovers "Don't Breathe" and "Suicide Squad" took spots three and four, while the animated "The Wild Life" opened in fifth with a dim $3.4 million.

SEE ALSO: The 16 best Tom Hanks performances ever, ranked

Join the conversation about this story »

At a press conference for the movie "The Birth of a Nation" on Sunday at the Toronto International Film Festival, director Nate Parker and the cast of his film spoke for over an hour to a room full of press about the movie, which looks at the life of slave Nat Turner, who led a revolt against white slave owners in Virginia in the 1830s.

The movie, which has shown at the festival to standing ovations, is a powerful work that its distributor Fox Searchlight has high hopes come the Oscars.

However, in the past month Parker has had to address a decade-old rape allegation, and a recent revelation that the alleged victim committed suicide in 2012. The story has taken over the success the film has had at festivals since sweeping the major awards at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. 

In the hopes to put the attention back on the movie, Parker refused to address the rape topic at Sunday's press conference.

When New York Times writer Cara Buckley asked Parker if he plans to apologize to his alleged victim and her family, Parker said he didn't want to "hijack" the press conference to talk about his personal life.

“I’ve addressed this a few times,” said Parker. “This [press conference] is a forum for the film and for the other people sitting on this stage. I do not own it. It is not mine."

Mashable's Jeff Sneider then asked Parker if he believes there's a double standard in Hollywood on how white people charged with sexual misconduct are treated versus African-Americans. This stemming from Oscar contender this year, Casey Affleck, receiving little attention for his past harassment allegations.

Parker gave a similar answer he gave Buckley and did not address it.

During the press conference Parker, who along with being the film's writer and director also plays Turner in the movie, and his fellow cast mates spoke about the hopes that the movie will be a bridge to starting a conversation about issues of racism and sexual abuse (the character played by Gabrielle Union in the movie is raped, she has since spoken out about being raped as a teen). Parker also said that he still plans to travel the country with the film to churches and college campuses to talk about social issues leading up to its October 7 release.

However, Sunday's press conference has proven that whatever setting Parker is given to talk about his movie he cannot escape having to address his past.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This popular fan theory perfectly explains 'Stranger Things'

Disney re-imaginings are a common starting point for many internet phenomena, whether it's princesses as hot dogs or gender-swapped villains. 

Artist Andrew Tarusov — already responsible for creating Disney princess pin-ups — has a new take on the idea: Tim Burton's visual aesthetic combined with the Disney classic movies.

Scroll down to see the imaginative renderings for yourself.

Tarusov posted the new series on Facebook in early 2016. Within days, the photos had been shared 15,000 times.

Source: Facebook

The photo series was also posted to Imgur, and hit the top of the /r/movies subreddit with over 3,000 upvotes.

Source: Reddit

"I’m big fan of Tim Burton’s style and Disney movies," Tarusov told Tech Insider. "[The idea] just happened and I began to draw immediately!"

Sick of watching the same movies on Netflix over and over again? You should be. That’s a ridiculous way to use the service. Especially considering they’re always adding new movies to their catalogue and we go through the trouble of rifling through the new entries to let you know which ones are worth your time. Click on the film’s titles to be taken to their Netflix pages.

1. "No Country For Old Men" (2007)

Pick of the month

What’s the best movie of the last 10 years? What’s the best movie in the entire Joel and Ethan Coen filmography? I’m sure I don’t know, but No Country For Old Men is in the conversation for both. This is just about the most tense crime drama ever made, and it’s infused with that unique Coens personality from top to bottom, so it’s hard to put into words just how good it is, unless you’re talking to a Coens fan who understands just how singular everything they make is (which is you, right?).

Look at the performances in this thing. Josh Brolin is so good as the lead that he had a Travolta-esque career resurgence because of it. Javier Bardem went from being fairly unknown in the United States to being one of the biggest stars in Hollywood because of how memorable he is as Anton Chigurh, one of the few film characters from this century who already feel iconic. Tommy Lee Jones — is it possible to overstate how good he is in this movie? It’s probably the best performance he’s given in a long, legendary career. Or, at least, it’ll do until his best performance gets here.

No Country For Old Men already has all of this going for it, but it also brings to the table the way in which it brilliantly breaks traditional story structure in the third act, which tends to enrage anyone who’s watching it for the first time. Why not find a Coens virgin and make them sit down with this one so you can giggle while they lose their shit? That’s an evening of good, clean fun right there.

2. "Baskin" (2016)

Overall, Baskin doesn’t really add up to much as a movie, but it does manage to provide a ton of creepy, messed up, bad-trip visuals for fans of the horror genre. Its story is about a squad of Turkish cops who crash their van out in the country, stumble upon a Satanic ritual in an abandoned building, and then end up being tied up and tortured while all manner of brutally violent and psycho-sexual things happen in front of them.

Think of every messed up heavy metal album cover and every banned alternative comic you’ve ever seen, put it all in a blender, and that’s basically what director Can Evrenolputs up on the screen in the third act of Baskin.

There’s not much story here, and the characters are pretty annoying to spend time with, but there’s so much blood, deviant sexual acts, and dead babies in cages put up on the screen that none of that really matters. Baskin would be great to put on in the background during a Halloween party, and it’s definitely time for you to start planning your Halloween party, so check it out.

3. "Big Daddy" (1999)

After hitting a trifecta of successful starring vehicles with Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, and The Wedding Singer, Adam Sandler sh-- the comedic bed by making The Waterboy. But he hadn’t yet completely turned into the living embodiment of poop jokes and cargo shorts that we know him as today.

He had one decent comedy left in him, 1999’s Big Daddy, which has the distinction of providing us with the most ridiculous and unrealistic court scene ever put on film. Aside from that, it’s kind of heartwarming (a success that Sandler would chase with diminishing, schmaltzy returns for the rest of his career), and it’s actually pretty funny (that little kid who asks Sandler if rum means Rumplestiltskin is a legend). Also, of the many Steve Buscemi cameos that have happened in Sandler movies, this one has the best, because not only does it give Buscemi a chance to act completely unhinged, but it also gives the movie a chance to cash a pretty big McDonalds check, and a Sandler movie just ain’t a Sandler movie if it ain’t chalk full of big money product placement.

Gabrielle Union has a small but powerful part in the upcoming film "The Birth of a Nation," and she's become a key player in the media storm swirling around it, too.

Following the surfacing of a rape accusation against director Nate Parker, dating back to his time in college, as well as news that the woman who accused him had killed herself, many have become easy with the rollout of the movie, which won the top prize at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and is expected to be an awards contender.

Union recently wrote an op-ed about the issue, saying, "I cannot take these allegations lightly." She also revealed that she herself is a rape survivor. In "Birth of a Nation," she plays a slave who is raped.

At the Toronto International Film Festival, where "Birth of a Nation" is currently playing, she articulately defended the film in a press conference, as Vulture reports, and attempted to persuade those protesting the film because of the rape charges to see it for themselves.

“We’re not creating a movie, we’re creating a movement,” Union said. “If you were confused why Ryan Lochte was called a child, was referred to as a kid, and was celebrated and rewarded with a 'Dancing with the Stars' appearance, but you’re wondering why Tamir Rice was never referred to as a child but murdered within seconds for acting like a child, and you have a problem with that, this movie is for you as well. If you’re a decent human being who wants to take part in a conversation at the very least about things that bug the crap out of you, this movie is for you as well, and I hope you don’t sit it out.”

When asked about the reaction to her op-ed, Union said, “five percent feels I threw Nate under the bus, and five percent feels I’m a rape apologist.”

She explained why the negativity on both sides doesn't deter her from speaking her mind:

“Every time I talk about sexual violence I want to puke,” she said. “There’s never been a time in the last 23 years where I did not want to vomit, but my personal discomfort is nothing compared to being a voice for people who feel absolutely voiceless and powerless... So if there’s any message I can give anyone who’s ever sat in my seat, it’s ‘You are not broken, you are not alone, you have a tremendous amount of support. Whether you speak out or you opt to keep your pain personal, you are real, you are valid, you are loved, and you are worthwhile.’”

SEE ALSO: 27 movies you have to see this fall

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson makes and spends his millions

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Edward Snowden in Oliver Stone's new "Snowden" biopic, and the actor's portrayal of the N.S.A. contractor turned whistleblower has drawn a wide range of reviews — most of which zero in on his somewhat jarring vocal impression.

Entertainment Weekly criticized Gordon-Levitt's Snowden voice as being "almost cartoonishly odd, like a kid doing his rec-room version of Buffalo Bill’s monotone from 'Silence of the Lambs'" in a recent review.

Though Vanity Fair's Richard Lawson admitted that the voice initally sounds "too synthetic and effortful for a movie that's about some very dire real-world things," he suggests that the actor's performance will win audiences over.

Vanity Fair also tracked down Gordon-Levitt to explain his process behind the divisive impression. He says he "felt compelled" to nail Snowden's voice and put in some hours practicing.

"I found everything I could find on YouTube," he told the publication in a video. "I ripped the audio off of the [Snowden] documentary 'Citizenfour' and just put it on my headphones on repeat."

While the actor's Snowden voice does at least sound accurate to its baritone source material, hearing it directly juxtaposed to Gordon-Levitt's real voice in the video is unnerving to say the least.

Edward Snowden himself previously admitted to Yahoo that he didn't think Gordon-Levitt's voice sounded like his own, but it nonetheless passed what he called the "family test."

"What I can say is some of my family members have said, 'He sounds just like you,'" Snowden said. "To me, the voice in my head doesn't sound the same. But if he can pass the family test, he’s doing all right."

Hear the impression for yourself and how Gordon-Levitt came up with it in Vanity Fair's interview below:

SEE ALSO: Oliver Stone attempts to make the Edward Snowden story into a thriller and fails

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This popular fan theory perfectly explains 'Stranger Things'

For every movie made, there are hundreds of rejected screenplays, germs of ideas, and screen tests that just never worked out. 

But sometimes, a filmmaker comes up with a vision that's so ambitious or interesting that it just doesn't work out. Even great filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick and Guillermo del Toro sometimes can't get the funding they need. And some great novels, begging to be adapted into novels, just can't get off the ground.

Here are the stories behind 18 of those amazing-sounding movies. Far from being mere great ideas from great filmmakers, these movies made significant steps toward production, but never got off the ground.

"Napoleon" by Stanley Kubrick

What it's about: "Napoleon" was going to be Kubrick's biggest movie. He spent decades preparing the film, filling boxes and boxes with research material, doing location scouting, and writing up casting notes. It would have been a sweeping epic covering Napoleon Bonaparte's early life, going into his political career and death.

What happened?: Rod Steiger's film "Waterloo" made it to theaters first in 1970. It flopped. Studios didn't want to spend money on what would have been an expensive historical epic, so the project was shelved.

Some of its DNA made it into his 1975 film, "Barry Lyndon," another sweeping historical movie. Kubrick kept iterating on "Napoleon" throughout his lifetime, hoping it would get made, but he never was able to finish it.

Chances it'll still happen: Likely — but not in the way Kubrick envisioned. Kubrick himself died in 1999 at age 70. Instead, Steven Spielberg, who made "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" after Kubrick's death, is planning to produce the project as a miniseries for HBO. David Leland is updating the script, and a bunch of high profile directors — Ang Lee, Baz Luhrmann, Cary Fukunaga, Ang Lee, Ridley Scott, and Rupert Sanders — have been named as potential directors.

Meanwhile, a 1969 draft of Kubrick's screenplay made its way online, and it's beautiful. You can read it right here.

A "Justice League" film from George Miller

What it's about: In 2007, Warner Bros. planned to have "Mad Max" director George Miller make "Justice League: Mortal." It was before the time of Zack Snyder's reign, and "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" was just a twinkle in Kevin Tsujihara's eye.

The movie was going to have D.J. Cotrona as Superman, Armie Hammher as Batman, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, Adam Brody as The Flash, Common as Green Lantern, Santiago Cabrera as Aquaman, and a bunch of other superheroes.

What happened?: The timing didn't work. The writers' strike stalled things at Warner Bros., and they were depending on an Australian tax-rebate legislation to shoot the movie, but it didn't work out.

Chances it'll still happen: Unfortunately, Zack Snyder, not George Miller, was chosen as the "visionary" behind Warner Bros.' DC franchise films. Miller moved on to directing "Mad Max: Fury Road" and has another "Mad Max" film in the works. Warner Bros., meanwhile, is going full steam ahead, with its own "Justice League" movie planned for 2017, directed by Snyder.

"Dune" by Alejandro Jodorowsky

What it's about: In the 1970s, film producer Arthur Jacobs tried to get Alejandro Jorodowski — known for cult classics like "The Holy Mountain" and "El Topo"— to adapt Frank Herbert's sci-fi novel "Dune." The story follows Paul Atreides, "who would become the mysterious man known as Muad'Dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family--and would bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream."

Jorodowsky convinved luminaries like Salvador Dalí, Orson Welles, Gloria Swanson, David Carradine, Mick Jagger, Amanda Lear, and Pink Floyd to agree to work on the movie.

What happened?: It was too much. The vision was too wild, and it would have been too expensive for a not-so-commercially friendly director like Jorodowski.

Jacobs settled on David Lynch to make the movie. It was said to be pretty wild and over three hours long, but Universal made him cut it down into a two-hour movie. It came out in 1984 and flopped, but became a cult classic. David Lynch doesn't like to talk about it, calling the production "a nightmare." Frank Herbert, for what it's worth, loves it.

Jorodowsky's version remains a great could-have-been, and a documentary about the failed making of the film called "Jorodowsky's Dune" came out in 2013.

Chances it'll still happen: If Orson Welles, Salvador Dalí, and Gloria Swanson were still alive, the world will be a better place.

"She's the Man" is not only an underrated teen comedy, but stands as the greatest Shakespeare adaptation since "10 Things I Hate About You."

The 2006 movie stars Amanda Bynes as Viola Hastings — a high school soccer player with a twin named Sebastian. When her soccer team gets cut and Sebastian ditches school to play music in London, Viola decides to pose as her twin brother and join the rival high school's soccer team. 

While wearing her disguise, Viola falls in love with her roommate Duke. But Duke (played flawlessly by Channing Tatum) is already in love with Olivia, who in turn is crushing on "Sebastian" (who is really Viola). 

Sound familiar? This is basically the entire plot of "Twelfth Night"— a comedic play written by Shakespeare sometime around 1600 — except in Shakespeare's play, Viola believes her brother Sebastian died at sea.

The brilliance of "She's The Man" lies in its subtle re-telling of "Twelfth Night." I was 15 years old when the movie first came out, and unaware of pretty much anything written by Shakespeare that wasn't "Romeo and Juliet,""Hamlet," or "MacBeth."

Bynes' unique brand of physical comedy is written into a story that requires no background in "Twelfth Night" in order for teen viewers to appreciate it. The movie came out the same year as "Step Up" (Tatum's breakout film), which means you get peak athletic, but doofy and not-yet-famous Tatum. Man-candy and Bynes' humor aside, the story also works to defy stereotypical gender roles — a theme welcome in any teen rom com.

Once you do learn a thing or two about Shakespeare and "Twelfth Night," the movie-watching experience is only enhanced. 

The clever ways in which names and locations are re-purposed is one big part of the "She's The Man" magic. Viola, Olivia, and Sebastian all have identical names and plots, but Tatum's character Duke Orsino has a twist. 

In the play, Viola falls in love with the Duke of Illyria — a man named Orsino. "She's The Man" named Tatum's character Duke Orsino, and the school he attends is called Illyria Academy.

There are other character name quirks like this. A "Twelfth Night" character named Malvolio is another man who loves Olivia, and Feste is the fool in Olivia's court. But "She's The Man" combined these into the character Malcolm Feste, and gave him a pet tarantula named Malvolio instead. 

There are plenty of other hidden references to Shakespeare throughout the story. Viola's debutante ball takes place at the Stratford Country Club, riffing on Shakespeare's own hometown. Several side characters take their names and personalities from other play characters, like the Illyria headmaster Horatio (played by David Cross) or a popular date spot Cesario's.

Shakespearean roots aside, "She's The Man" is a darn fun movie. Roger Ebert gave it three stars back in 2006, and said Bynes "is convincing, and her poise, under the circumstances, is extraordinary." The excellent mid '00s soundtrack includes the All American Rejects, OK Go, and The Veronicas. Plus there are no fewer than four jokes about flirting with the opening line: "Do you like cheese?" 

If you've never see "She's The Man," I forgive you. But only if you swear to rectify that life mistake by watching it within the next 48 hours. This is a teen comedy worthy of everyone's one hour and 30 minutes, especially given its perfect Shakesperean adaption choices.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Something unprecedented is happening in the Pacific, and Hawaii could be in big trouble

On November 1, 2007, in Perugia, Italy, 21-year-old Meredith Kercher was found murdered in the bedroom of an apartment she was sharing with two Italian women and a 20-year-old American exchange student named Amanda Knox. Knox and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, said they realized something was wrong when they discovered Kercher's door was locked, drops of blood in the bathroom, and a broken bedroom window. They proceeded to call the police.

What followed is a sensational story that tabloid journalists went crazy over, and which ended with Knox spending four years in an Italian prison following the murder, for which she was convicted, until she was ultimately acquitted.

Five years after being freed from prison because of DNA contamination and a year after Italy's highest court exonerated her, a new documentary, "Amanda Knox," delivers the definitive tell-all of the events.

To be released by Netflix on September 30, the movie had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and received rave reviews for its in-depth investigation of every aspect of the Knox saga told by many of the main players, including Knox.

Directors Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn, like most people in the world, couldn't get over how much media made the case a sensation. By 2011, when they started work on the movie, the Knox story dominated headlines once again when she was freed from prison.

"I think that for us we were a little bit confused by why it was so big and also how something that starts as an undeniable tragedy and a terrible act of violence becomes a piece of front-page news and that then becomes entertainment," McGinn told Business Insider at TIFF. "So we thought it would be interesting in looking at how that happens and to try to get really deep inside to the roots of what really causes that kind of story."

"There were so many headlines, and so many stories, and yet people didn't seem to have any further clarity," Blackhurst added.

What "Amanda Knox" reveals is how crucial mistakes in the handling of the crime scene and a false confession by Knox led to complete dysfunction in the case. But it also shows how journalists became obsessed with Knox.

Footage of her kissing Sollecito and showing little remorse for what happened to her roommate by the time news cameras arrived at the crime scene started the narrative. In the weeks and months to follow, Knox was branded as sex-crazed, and as the investigation continued, the theory was that Kercher was a victim in some deviant crime of passion involving Knox and Sollecito.

Though before this film, Knox had done the big TV interviews and a book once back in the US, Blackhurst and McGinn still felt Knox hadn't opened up and given her side of the story, and neither had Sollecito, nor the lead investigator of the murder, Italian detective Giuliano Mignini.

"All of them felt this narrative the media put out there was not representative of who they were and we wanted to understand from a human point of view what it would feel like to have that applied to you and what it felt like to be caught up in these events and circumstances," Blackhurst said.

So the filmmakers began trying to get access to everyone who was involved. But they made it clear that they would not move on the film until their subjects were comfortable.

"We met Amanda and Raffaele when they were acquitted in 2011, but it wasn't until 2013 that she decided, on her own, that she was ready to talk," Blackhurst said. "That was always very important to us to say we're not going to come and dine and dash, we're not trying to steal something out of your mouth and leak it on Twitter as quickly as possible. We want to put in the time to understand you as people."

They shot Knox for the first time in 2014. Once she signed on, Raffaele, Mignini, and others including Nick Pisa, who broke many of the stories about the case for the Daily Mail, also agreed to talk.

But then there was explaining to an audience what likely happened to Kercher, and that meant diving into DNA evidence and deciding how to deliver the information as simply as possible.

The filmmakers used graphics to point out that Knox was never in the room where Kercher died, according to the DNA present in the room. They also showed that DNA evidence linking Knox to the knife thought to be used as the murder weapon was inconclusive.

"Initially we thought the graphics would be more complex," McGinn said, "but what we realized quickly was the only way to keep it a human story and feel empathy for the people involved was to put it in more layman's terms."

Along with the graphics, McGinn and Blackhurst got the DNA experts from the trial to be in the movie. They had never previously done an interview about this case.

The filmmakers are most proud of bringing much-needed context to the moments that were only captured in small news bites around the world when the case was happening.

In "Amanda Knox," we get never-before-heard audio recordings of Amanda and her mother speaking in prison, and some added clarity to the footage everyone remembers of Knox kissing Sollecito outside the murder scene. The documentary explains through interviews with Knox and Sollecito that it was not what it seemed.

"You can feel what it felt like for those people to be caught up at that time," Blackhurst said of the movie. "You're able to give context to this one little bit because you now can see and hear from them."

"Amanda Knox" will be available on Netflix September 30.

SEE ALSO: The 20 most-watched TV episodes ever, ranked

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch a Ryan Lochte protester rush the stage during his appearance on 'Dancing with the Stars'

Maybe Netflix knew what it was doing when it signed Adam Sandler to that exclusive four-movie deal.

Sandler’s "The Do-Over," released in May, was the most-streamed movie on Netflix in May and June, according to a new report from analytics company 7Park Data. An estimated 2 million different accounts watched the movie in the US in June.

Netflix continues to release very little data on how many people watch its content.

Sandler, who established himself with '90s comedies like "Billy Madison" and "Happy Gilmore," has gotten mostly awful reviews for more than a decade, and "The Do-Over" is no exception with a 5% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Yet people keep watching his movies no matter how bad they get.

Sandler’s previous Netflix movie, "The Ridiculous 6," released in December, also appears to be a big hit. Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos said in January that it was the most-watched movie in the history of Netflix over its first 30 days. It was still the eighth most-watched movie in June.

SEE ALSO: The 20 most popular shows on Netflix

DON'T MISS: The worst-reviewed actors of all time

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The 7 best TV shows on Netflix you've probably never heard of

The wait is over! The first trailer for "Fifty Shades Darker," the "Fifty Shades of Grey" sequel is here and it's full of more steamy scenes between Anastasia and the mysterious billionaire Christian Grey.

Though the two parted ways at the end of the first film, it's clear the two won't stay apart for long. But it won't just be sex and romancing this time around. Anastasia will come face to face with someone from Christian Grey's past who threatens their budding relationship.

"Fifty Shades Darker" will be in theaters February 10, 2017.

Check out the trailer below:

Join the conversation about this story »

Can you smell what The Rock is cooking? He's got 20 movies that we know of on his slate, and counting...

THE DEFINITES

"Baywatch"

Currently in post-production, the cinematic Baywatch revival is another example of The Rock being injected in to bring new life to an established franchise (see: Fast & Furious, The Mummy, G.I. Joe and Journey To The Centre Of The Earth. They don’t call him Franchise Viagra for nothing!).

The mighty Mr Johnson will appear alongside Zac Efron and his San Andreas co-star Alexandra Daddario. Horrible Bosses’ Seth Gordon directed the movie, and a comedic tone is expected. Probably some muscles, too. Baywatch is due in cinemas May 2017.

"Doc Savage"

Shane Black has snapped up The Rock to play a doc. Doc Savage, that is, the world’s first superhero (who debuted for DC Comics way back in 1933 and was portrayed on the silver screen by Ron Ely in 1975’s Doc Savage: The Man Of Bronze).

The new movie will be set in the 1930s. Sony Pictures and Original Film are backing it. Dwayne Johnson is very enthusiastic. He said this on Facebook: 

“Doc was physically and mentally trained from birth by his father and a team of scientists to become the perfect human specimen with a genius level intellect. His heightened senses are beyond comprehension. He can even identify a women's perfume from half a mile away. He is literally the master of everything. But here's the #1 reason I'm excited to become Doc Savage.. HE'S A F*CKING HILARIOUS WEIRDO! Confidently, yet innocently he has zero social graces whatsoever due to his upbringing so every interaction he has with someone is direct, odd, often uncomfortable and amazingly hilarious.”

This one is likely to shoot in 2017, once Shane Black is done filming The Predator.

If you feel like you're having déjà vu at theaters lately, you're not totally wrong. 

Studios have been relying on pre-existing properties in order to pull in audiences. Disney has built an entire cinematic universe around Marvel. Meanwhile, sequels that nobody was really asking for, like "Jurassic World," or "Mad Max: Fury Road," ended up as smash hits.

But this isn't always the case.

There's an onslaught of sequels, remakes, and reboots and they're not slowing down any time soon. Here are some of the recent ones you may have missed and others which will be coming to theaters soon.

"Zoolander 2"

"Zoolander" was overlooked when it was first released in theaters, only to build its fanbase in the coming years and become one of the most quotable comedies of the new millennium. "Zoolander 2," which was hammered by critics, proved that maybe once was more than enough for Derek Zoolander, Hansel, and Mugatu.

"Alice Through the Looking Glass"

Negative reaction aside, Tim Burton's 2010 update of "Alice in Wonderland" nevertheless grossed over $1 billion worldwide, which was enough to merit a sequel.

The resulting sequel, from a different director, was instantly forgettable and universally reviled. It turned out to be one of the biggest duds of summer 2016.

"The Legend of Tarzan"

Despite a powerhouse cast that includes Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz, and Margot Robbie, the film barely resonated, raking in $356.4 million worldwide. It's a bland reboot that also happened to fall in the shadow of the far superior "The Jungle Book," which came out in April. Stick to the 1999 animated Disney version of "Tarzan" instead. 

"Captain America: Civil War" is finally out on Blu-ray and DVD.

Just how much do you know about the making of the film?

INSIDER went through the Blu-ray commentary featuring co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely to get an inside look at what it took to bring the highest-grossing movie of the year so far to the big screen.

Keep reading to see what we learned.

The Winter Soldier's mind control backstory was almost more complicated.

At the beginning of the film, we're shown a flashback of the Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes getting brainwashed by a series of words. He's in some sort of brain control chair, and according to screenwriter Christopher Markus, it almost played a larger role.

"There were many drafts where they were chasing something called the mind crown, basically that thing that goes over his head," says Markus. "And then somebody very wisely said, 'Couldn't it just be like a notebook with some words in it?"

The screenwriters picked the Winter Soldier's mind control words somewhat carefully.

Nine words repeat themselves on screen throughout the movie to trigger a brain control mechanism for The Winter Soldier.

"I think we picked Russian words that sounded interesting. Had some chewiness to it. And then, even when you read them it wasn't, you know, kittens, puppies," said Stephen McFeely.

Markus added that they looked at how the words read in English to "make you think you were watching something cool."

You're not supposed to know whether to side with #TeamCap or #TeamIronMan by the end of the film.

"Captain America: Civil War" pits the two superheroes against one another and if you thought you were supposed to side with one more than the other by the film's end, you were wrong.

Co-director Joe Russo said one of the most difficult things about making the film was balancing Captain America and Tony Stark's roles to make sure each one felt as if they had an equal voice in the film and that their points of view were equally represented. 

"By the time we got to the end of the movie you're left with a very complicated choice to make. You couldn't tell who was wrong and who was right and hopefully you left the theater and argued with your friends and family about who was wrong and who was right," he explained. 

"La La Land," which is showing now at the Toronto film festival, knocks you out right from the start. The opening scene zooms in on Los Angeles gridlock, where the drivers suddenly burst into song, and before you know it there's a dance number right on the freeway. Twirls, flips, all with an up-tempo melody.

You're instantly placed into a world where anything can (and will) happen. And it's all from the mind of Damien Chazelle, the director of the 2014 indie hit "Whiplash," leaning on inspiration from great musicals of the past.

"Whiplash" showed the dark side of music, as a drummer (Miles Teller) is pushed to the breaking point to become great. Here, Chazelle gives us the beauty of music and movies combined, very much a forgotten genre in Hollywood.

You can't peg "La La Land" as just a musical, because it's more than that. Though there are dance numbers and top-notch singing performances by leads Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, the movie is also a moving love story.

Musicals often strip away the character development and story to get to the musical numbers. Chazelle, who also wrote the script, perfectly distills a dramatic narrative about a jazz piano player (Gosling) and a struggling actress' (Stone) relationship over a year while devising some of the best musical numbers you've seen in a long time that aren't catered to your grandmother. 

The chemistry between Gosling and Stone is nothing new. They pulled it off perfectly in the movie "Crazy, Stupid, Love" (we'll forget about "Gangster Squad"). But the two actors here also show their musical chops — from singing and dancing to Gosling playing the piano. If you're thinking, "That sounds fun," well yes, it is.

The fall and winter movie seasons are typically rife with depressing dramas, so "La La Land" is a welcome sight. It's filled with color and energy.

Chazelle proves that like jazz, the musical is timeless and can always be appreciated when it's done the right way.  

"La La Land" is currently playing at the Toronto International Film Festival and will be in theaters on December 2.

SEE ALSO: 27 movies you have to see this fall

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This incredibly detailed Batman costume just set a Guinness World Record

"Mad Max: Fury Road" was a visually stunning film— but not because of CGI.

A new compilation video by ESPORTS TV shows incredible raw footage from the film, proving that many of its jaw-dropping stunts — explosions, monster truck jumps, high-octane chases — were totally real, Consequence of Sound reports.

Director George Miller previously claimed that 90% of the movie's special effects were practical, not computer-generated.

“This is a film that didn’t defy the laws of physics,"Miller told Studio 360 earlier this year. "If you’re going to go out into the desert and have two vehicles colliding, why do it artificially? It was much better to do it for real."

His decision to rely mostly on practical effects was hailed by critics — and was likely a major factor in the film's eventual Oscar win for Best Production Design. 

Here's a stunt from the finished film:

And here's the actor performing it in the raw footage. They're almost identical save for color correction:

Remember when the War Boys pole vaulted from vehicle to vehicle?

That was a real effect, too:

Even a major crash like this...

...was orchestrated in real life. 

It's worth checking out the full video right here:

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The full trailer for the next Star Wars movie is finally here

Not too long ago, 15-year-old Hollywood newcomer Auli'i Cravalho was performing in backyard plays and glee club.

She may not realize it yet, but this Thanksgiving, Cravalho will become the next role model for young girls everywhere in the form of a pint-sized Pacific Islander teen in "Moana."

Surprisingly enough, Cravalho landed the role without even a formal audition — a testament to how well-suited she is to become Disney's most fearless princess yet.

"I didn't officially try out," Cravalho told Tech Insider. She auditioned instead for a local nonprofit event. "The casting woman who was going through those auditions was the same casting director for Disney's ['Moana']. She looked at my audition and the rest is history."

It's not hard to see how Cravalho, who was the last actress that casting director Rachel Sutton saw, blew away the House of Mouse.

First, she's unbearably cute. I met Cravalho at San Diego Comic-Con last summer and asked how she pronounces her first name, Auli'i (which means dainty or cute in Hawaiian).

She said, "It's 'ow,' like you stubbed your toe, 'lee,' like Bruce Lee, and then another 'ee,'" throwing in a karate kick for good measure.

The young actress also has the heart to match her character, a Polynesian girl her age.

The movie follows Moana on an epic oceanic journey 2,000 years ago. Her ancestors once traveled the world by a system of navigation called wayfinding, in which voyagers look to the ocean currents and stars for guidance. But their way of life mysteriously ended, which is a plotline based on real Polynesian history, according to Cravalho.

Moana shares her ancestors' draw to the water and sets out to restore this integral part of their culture. In order to do so, she must find a demigod, played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and deliver him across the ocean.

"Throughout her journey and the movie, she further realizes she's an amazing individual and she doesn't have to be anybody else," Cravalho said.

It's a story the young actress finds relatable.

"I personally feel like I've kind of blossomed into who I'm meant to be, and I love this journey that I'm on," she said. "Each Disney princess is unique in their own way, but Moana is especially close to my heart because she's Polynesian."

Cravalho, a high school sophomore, was born and raised on the Hawaiian Islands. "Moana" marks her first major film role.

Its release date, November 23, also falls on the actress' 16th birthday.

"How sweet is my birthday going to be?" she exclaimed. Pretty sweet indeed.

SEE ALSO: Meet the 13-year-old dancing sensation who stunned people at the big Apple event

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Lin-Manuel Miranda and The Rock team up in the trailer for Disney's 'Moana'

"Mad Max: Fury Road" is essentially one awesome, mind-boggling car chase, but it's even more spectacular when you realize how it was done.

The 2015 Oscar-winning "Mad Max" sequel from the franchise's visionary director, George Miller, used a lot of practical effects and relatively minimal CGI to create its post-apocalyptic action.

You can see that at work in this new "Crash & Smash" video compiling pre-production tests, behind-the-scenes video, and raw footage from the film that hasn't been edited.

There is no CGI anywhere in the video, which is something worth chewing on next time you watch "Fury Road."

Below is the video and see some special CGI-free shots from the making of "Mad Max: Fury Road":

SEE ALSO: 100 movies on Netflix everyone needs to watch in their lifetime

Being a War Boy on the set of "Fury Road" looks like a lot of fun.

"Mad Max" had cars and camera rigs galore during filming in the desert of Namibia, Africa.

The driving stunts were unreal.