Joel Edgerton is finally ready to direct another movie after the success of his 2015 directorial debut, "The Gift."

The Australian actor has been busy in front of the camera in movies like the Oscar-nominated "Loving," the recent thriller "It Comes at Night," and the anticipated Netflix movie starring Will Smith, "Bright." But he's finally found time to delve into his passion of directing.

"I made the mistake of not having another bullet to fire out of the cannon after 'The Gift,'" Edgerton told Business Insider while doing press for "It Comes at Night.""I'm finally going to make another movie hopefully at the end of the year. I had a few movies that I signed on for and basically was waiting to get to the end of that. I'm taking time out to concentrate on directing."

The movie will be an adaptation of the memoir "Boy Erased," which delves into author Garrard Conley's experience being enrolled in the camp Love in Action, which does gay conversion therapy. 

Edgerton adapted the book, which looks at Conley growing up in Arkansas until he was outed as gay at 19. His parents then brought him to the camp, which instead of "curing" his sexuality led him to embrace his identity.

Edgerton was mum to Business Insider about specifics, but according to a story that ran in Deadline a few days after we talked to him, Edgerton will play the head of the camp, and "Manchester by the Sea" star Lucas Hedges will play Conley. The site also reports that Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman are in talks to play Conley's parents. 

"It's a great ensemble piece," Edgerton told Business Insider. "I really wanted to get into some drama, more real-world drama. There is also a sense of danger to it because of the world it's in. It's a modern film and it sort of deals with a thing that I'm really interested in, which is injustice. About the right for people to be who they are. And it's kind of almost a prison film as well. It's got the tension and the fear in it."

There is no distributor in place, but Deadline reports that numerous are interested, including Netflix, Amazon, and Focus Features. 

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On Tuesday, Elizabeth Banks accepted an award from Women in Film — a nonprofit group that promotes equal opportunities for women in the film industry — and according to The Wrap, she spoke about her frustrations with Hollywood, calling out legendary director and producer Steven Spielberg in the process.

“I went to 'Indiana Jones’ and ‘Jaws’ and every movie Steven Spielberg ever made,” she said, “and by the way, he’s never made a movie with a female lead. Sorry, Steven. I don’t mean to call your ass out, but it’s true.”

Banks is wrong. Spielberg has directed 30 feature films, and three of them have had female leads, and he has a fourth on the way. "The Sugarland Express" (1974) starred Goldie Hawn, "The Color Purple" (1985) starred Whoopie Goldberg, and last year's "The BFG" starred child actress Ruby Barnhill. Speilberg is also directing "The Papers" starring Meryl Streep, which will come to theaters in 2018.

But while Banks got the facts wrong, she still has a point — 3 out of 30 is a significant imbalance. Huge directors who’ve been making huge films for decades have a bad track record with diversity, including Martin Scorsese and the Coen brothers (with the exception of 1996’s “Fargo” and 2010’s “True Grit”). Directors like Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson — despite being men themselves — have managed to work strong female characters into their films, in both minor and major roles, and they haven’t been making movies nearly as long as Spielberg or Scorsese.

Banks' point is that critically acclaimed directors with wide audiences like Spielberg should take advantage of that platform by telling stories for everyone. In doing so, there can be more opportunities for women both in front of and behind the camera. 

Banks also emphasized the importance of showing her sons movies with strong, independent women, like "Frozen" and "Wonder Woman."

"Buy a f---ing ticket to a movie with a woman, take them, give them the experience of seeing amazing women on film," she said. 

SEE ALSO: Everything you need to know about the acclaimed female director behind 'Wonder Woman'

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The galaxy far, far away is huge. It's full of many planets, many people, many ships, many Ewoks, and other species, which means a lot of actors.

Over the past 40 years, famous actors of all generations have appeared in "Star Wars" movies, and some of their roles were so quick that you probably missed them. And some performers made their "Star Wars" appearances years before they got famous, so even if you saw them, you probably didn't know who they were at the time. 

From small roles to big roles to celebrity cameos in "The Force Awakens" (director J.J. Abrams has a lot of friends), here are the people you probably didn't know were in "Star Wars" movies:

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Keira Knightley

Years before gaining fame for her major role in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," Knightley appeared in "The Phantom Menace" as Sabé, a handmaiden to Queen Padmé Amidala. For most of the movie, Sabé poses as the Queen of Naboo. 

Sofia Coppola

The director had a small role as Saché, another handmaiden to Queen Padmé Amidala in "Phantom Menace." The same year, her feature-length directorial debut, "The Virgin Suicides," came out to acclaim.

Rose Byrne

The star of "Neighbors" and "X-Men: First Class" was in "Attack of the Clones" as Dormé, a handmaiden to Senator Padmé Amidala. 

In the wake of the disastrous domestic opening for Universal's "The Mummy," which at a budget of around $190 million only took in $31.6 million (though it did much better internationally), the finger-pointing has begun.

And many are targeting the would-be blockbuster's star, Tom Cruise.

Cruise has had an overwhelming amount of creative control on all of his movies for the last decade-plus, but according to Variety, the actor had more than usual on the set of "The Mummy."

The trade reports that Cruise had a contract with Universal on the project that gave him control of script approval and postproduction decisions, and he certainly wielded that power. 

The movie already had a close collaborator of Cruise's signed on as a screenwriter before the actor came aboard, Christopher McQuarrie, who has written and directed Cruise movies "Jack Reacher,""Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation," and the upcoming "Mission: Impossible 6." But Cruise then brought on two more screenwriters to beef up his role. 

Cruise then brought on his longtime editor Andrew Mondshein to work with the editors already on the project, Paul and Gina Hirsch, to lock the picture. Cruise also spent a lot of time in the edit suite as well, Variety reports.

Looking back on it, studio chatter is mixed. Some believe Cruise had too much power and turned a monster movie (the first of a franchise called Dark Universe that will feature famous monsters like The Invisible Man and The Wolf Man) into a seen-it-already Tom Cruise action flick. Meanwhile, others think Cruise needed to be heavy-handed given the inexperience of director Alex Kurtzman.

Business Insider spoke to Kurtzman before "The Mummy" opened in theaters, and he said he was well aware of Cruise's collaborative nature, as he had worked on scripts for Cruise movies since 2006's "Mission: Impossible III."

“It's a constant back-and-forth, a constant partnership,” Kurtzman told Business Insider about working with Cruise. “Breaking down how we approach the filmmaking, everything is a conversation, nothing is taken for granted. He’s extremely thorough, he's extremely knowledgeable, he'll step on set and he'll know exactly what is going on everywhere and that's a tremendous benefit. When you're making a movie this big, it's a benefit because there's so much to handle in it and having his basic knowledge was great.” 

Kurtzman added of directing Cruise, "He’s never not done anything I’ve asked him to do."

Universal did not immediately reply to Business Insider's request for comment, but the studio did back Cruise in its statement to Variety:

“Tom approaches every project with a level of commitment and dedication that is unmatched by most working in our business today,” the statement read. “He has been a true partner and creative collaborator, and his goal with any project he works on is to provide audiences with a truly cinematic moviegoing experience.”

SEE ALSO: "The Mummy" director responds to critics bashing the movie: "I'm not making movies for them"

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Though in the last decade, women have found more work as directors and showrunners on TV, movies are still in the Stone Age when it comes to gender equality. In fact, a recent study showed that in 2016, only 7% of the 250 highest-grossing movies were directed by women, a 2% drop from the year before. 

There’s no better example of this imbalance than the male-dominated comedy movie market, where women are rarely ever given the opportunity to helm outside of rom-coms. So even though there has been needed attention and praise for recent releases like Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman” and Sofia Coppola’s “The Beguiled,” we shouldn’t ignore the significance of Sony releasing Lucia Aniello’s raunchy R-rated comedy “Rough Night” on Friday.

In the last 20 years, there aren’t many examples of women making studio R-rated comedies. The three “Bridget Jones” movies were all helmed by women (Sharon Maguire did the first and third movies, Beeban Kidron made the second), in 2009 Nancy Meyers made “It’s Complicated,” and then you have to go all the way back to 1998's Dave Chappelle-starring classic “Half Baked,” directed by Tamra Davis. So Aniello, who is best known for directing and cowriting many episodes of the Comedy Central hit “Broad City,” is the latest on a very short list. Which she wasn’t aware of for a while.

“I think it's a big deal because it's my first movie, period,” Aniello recently told Business Insider. “That's why it feels like a pretty big moment for me. The fact that there's this additional curse thing that has been broken, which I didn't know about until a few weeks ago, I just hope in some small way if this movie is able to pave the way for anybody else to make an R comedy by women for women, then I think it’s done its job.”

Aniello and her partner Paul W. Downs (who along with being a writer on “Broad City” also plays Trey on the show) wrote the script for "Rough Night" during a break between seasons of “Broad City.” While much of the humor and story on the show — which follows the antics of Ilana (Ilana Glazer) and Abbi (Abbi Jacobson) as they navigate life in New York City — revolve around experiences the staff had in their 20s, Aniello and Downs thought of a way to explore life in their 30s.

“We realized that a lot of our closest friendships have kind of gone to the back burner,” Aniello said. “We had a lot of bachelorette and bachelor parties that we went to and we started talking about this idea of what happens when you have people from college you feel you could never ever live without, but 10 years later, where are you? And is everyone on equal footing or are there issues that have come up?”

They decided to explore those questions inside a raunchy comedy. Over the course of a bachelorette party in Miami, five friends have fun until everything goes very wrong after the stripper they hired dies in a horrific accident.

Aniello and Downs began to pitch it to studios, but there were two stipulations to buying the project: Aniello would have to direct it and Downs would have to play the super-sensitive fiance, Peter. And to their delight, multiple studios were interested in the script, but Sony was the most aggressive.

“From the first conversation, Sony was ready to throw down and make the movie,” Aniello said. “For us we weren't necessarily interested in who is going to give us the most money, we were like, ‘Let's make this thing,’ and that was always our goal from day one. We would have Kickstartered it if we had to, shot it on cell phones in a borrowed house. We just wanted to make something that we really cared about.”

But then things got even better when they found that one of the most bankable actresses in the world wanted to play the lead: Scarlett Johansson.

“It was a complete shot in the dark,” Aniello said about sending the script to Johansson’s people. “I don’t even know if she was looking for that kind of a thing.”

However, Aniello felt the only way to pull off the emotional third act of the movie — in which bachelorette Jess (Johansson) and her friends (Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer, Kate McKinnon, Zoë Kravitz) open up about being left out of each other’s lives — was with a lead who had serious chops.

“We definitely wanted an actress who had the range of comedy and drama. For us there were very few people in general that we were interested in,” Aniello said.

Though Aniello had no doubts Johansson could pull off the comedy, having seen her hold her own on “Saturday Night Live,” watching her work on the set of a fast-paced comedy movie was still impressive.

“We would give her a Post-It with 30 words on it and she would read it once, hand it back, and I would say, ‘Action,’ and she would deliver it verbatim, perfect timing,” Aniello said. “She’s an unbelievable machine.”

Looking back on the first major movie they’ve been able to make, Downs recalls the back-and-forth with the studio that all hard-R movies experience, like a scene in which his character is offered oral sex at a gas station. Downs said they had to shoot a version that didn’t include the mention of oral sex to appease the studio, but after test screenings, the dirtier version was kept. But another highlight was the camaraderie that was built because of the female power behind the scenes.

“Comedy has always been a boys' club, so I think in that way we knew it was significant that Lucia was directing,” Downs said. “And because it was a woman director and a female cast, all around the same age, they all became girlfriends. That’s the biggest success of this film, how much everyone got along.”

“I’m lucky to be in a position where I can help move the needle, so I’m kind of concentrating on that,” Aniello said of her place in furthering women-directed comedies. “Come and laugh and maybe Hollywood will let women make more R comedies.”

It may just change the landscape of gross-out, goofy R comedies as we know it.

SEE ALSO: "Rough Night" is the woke R-rated female comedy we need right now

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This summer's movie slate has been off to a mixed start. "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" and "Wonder Woman" have both gotten great reviews and been smashes at the box office. But high-profile efforts like "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword"and "The Mummy"have been huge flops.

The rest of the season, though, is looking strong. There are big comic book flicks like "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and Christopher Nolan's new movie "Dunkirk" to look forward to, and then there are Sundance films like "A Ghost Story" and potential sleeper hits like "Baby Driver" on the horizon.

Here are the 23 summer films you need to check out.

"Rough Night" is a comedy starring Scarlett Johansson, Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer, and Zoë Kravitz as best friends on a wild bachelorette weekend in Miami.

Read our review here.

Release date: June 16

"Cars 2" was one of Pixar's most disappointing films, but critics say the new, third entry in the series is much more charming, with Steve McQueen trying to prove he's the best racer in the world.

Read our review here.

Release date: June 16

It's no "Jaws," but "47 Meters Down" is still a great shark thriller, about two sisters trapped in a cage at the bottom of the ocean with just an hour of oxygen while sharks circle overhead.

Release date: June 16

Mark Hamill is alive and well, and the "Star Wars" actor showed he had a sense of humor when he was declared dead on Friday in an internet hoax.

Hamill responded to the hoax with some self-deprecation.

"MUCH OF NATION MOURNS-RIP,"he wrote on Twitter, "a wonderful-underrated & beloved icon-Truly a legend in his own mind #SoGladIGotToMeetHim #KindaSad"

It all started from a fake Twitter account for news website Huffington Post on Friday afternoon.

The tweet read, "BREAKING: Mark Hamill actor who played Luke Skywalker dies at 65. #MayTheForceBeWithYou #WildThoughts #Bloomsday #FridayFeeling"

When Business Insider's Steve Kovach tweeted at the actor asking if he was ok, the actor favorited the tweet.

"Star Wars" fans can plan on seeing more of the actor who played the iconic Luke Skywalker in the blockbuster franchise. He's set to appear in the upcoming "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" and reportedly returning for "Star Wars: Episode IX," which is slated for a 2019 release.

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Not since Walt Disney has there been a figure in the animation world who has transcended the medium like John Lasseter, with the studio he oversees, Pixar.

Yes, Jeffrey Katzenberg and DreamWorks Animation had their time, but for over 20 years, Lasseter's Pixar has consistently put out box-office hits (the company has earned close to $11 billion worldwide) and created stories that affect us on an emotional level and that we can't wait to experience again and again.

From the "you've got a friend" tale of the "Toy Story" movies to a commentary on how we need to protect our planet in the multilayered "WALL-E," Pixar movies are much more than kids movies or cartoons. Which is exactly how ol' Walt went about it.

With Pixar's latest, "Cars 3," now in theaters, we've taken on the gargantuan task of ranking all 18 Pixar releases — scroll down to find out the best.

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18. 'Cars 2' (2011)

Taking Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) and Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) away from Radiator Springs and going international (plus making Mater a spy) didn't grab critics. This sequel became the first "rotten" Pixar movie on Rotten Tomatoes. Deservedly.

17. 'A Bug’s Life' (1998)

In the second movie ever released by Pixar, an ant named Flik (voiced by Dave Foley) sets out to find others to help save his colony against grasshoppers and ends up recruiting a unique group of allies.

Though the movie was successful at the box office, with the release of DreamWorks' "Antz" a month earlier, you're more likely to remember the Lasseter-Katzenberg feud than the films. 

16. 'Cars 3' (2017)

Though the "Cars" movies are the least acclaimed of anything Pixar makes, the company continues to churn them out. The latest one touches on some interesting themes like mortality and self-confidence, but it feels like everyone involved in the making of it was on cruise control.

Pixar's latest movie, "Cars 3," may have won the weekend box office, but that was hardly the most interesting thing that went down at the multiplex the last couple of days.

The latest movie in the "Cars" franchise took in an estimated $53 million, according to Exhibitor Relations, the lowest opening for any "Cars" movie.

In second place with $40 million is "Wonder Woman," which continues to be a cash cow for Warner Bros./DCEU with a domestic total of $274 million and over $500 million worldwide.

But then things get interesting. In a surprising third place with $27 million is "All Eyez on Me," the biopic on the late rapper, Tupac Shakur. After years in development hell and numerous directors attached (including John Singleton and Antoine Fuqua), the movie finally hit theaters with weekend with music video director Benny Boom at the helm. It proved audiences have a hunger for a Tupac movie as much as they do for his music.

Released through Lionsgate, the movie was the number two ticket seller behind "Cars 2"on Fandango Thursday and Friday and then went and outgrossed"Wonder Woman" on Friday with $12.8 million (including $3.1 million in Thursday preview screenings) versus $10.8 million for the comic book icon.

So, despite its 24% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences flocked to see actor Demetrius Shipp Jr.'s on-the-nose performance of Tupac and the rapper's numerous featured tracks in the movie.

But not everyone did great. Sony can't be happy with the performance of the R comedy "Rough Night," which only took in $8 million on over 3,000 screens.

Though these kind of movies historically never do well in theaters (everyone waits until these titles hit cable/streaming), Sony was hoping with a cast that included Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, and "Broad City" star Ilana Glazer, there would be a lot of girls' night out treks to the movies.

Sadly, more people went to see the low budget thriller "47 Meters Down," starring Mandy Moore and a whole bunch of sharks chasing her. The movie edged past "Rough Night," taking in $11.5 million.

SEE ALSO: RANKED: Every Pixar movie from worst to best

DON'T MISS: Why it’s a big deal the raunchy comedy 'Rough Night' was made by a woman

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Sofia Coppola has always taken to moody, subtle stories that explore the human condition. Her latest movie, "The Beguiled" (opening in limited release Friday and nationwide on June 30), certainly has that, but Coppola also throws in suspense resulting in something she's never really made before: a genre movie.

Granted, this genre movie is highbrow — it's made by a master filmmaker and features incredible cinematography and performances by some of the best actors working today. But if you only heard the plot of this titillating Southern Gothic tale featuring attractive women and a dashing soldier, you would think this was a steamy melodrama from the 1970s (which it actually was).

Based on the novel of the same name by Thomas P. Cullinan, the story is set in a Virginia girls' school during the Civil War that shelters a wounded Union soldier, John McBurney (Colin Farrell). John instantly has sexual tension with the headmistress, Martha Farnsworth (Nicole Kidman); a teacher, Edwina Dabney (Kirsten Dunst); and an older student, Alicia (Elle Fanning). Gradually as John gets more healthy, the flirting increases. But one evening, an incident leads to John being in worse condition than when he originally arrived. And that's when things get really dark.

Cullinan's story was originally given a Hollywood adaptation in 1971 with Clint Eastwood in the John McBurney role and Don Siegel directing. Audiences didn't really want to see Clint in the role of a heartthrob and passed, but it's currently streaming on HBO Go/Now and you should check it out. It's a performance by Eastwood he's never done before or since.

Coppola's version is more ambiguous than Siegel's. She teases the audience more about the women's feelings toward John and also provides a better atmosphere of the horrors going on around them. With the Civil War at full speed, we hear bombs going off constantly beyond the tree lines, and the talk of if the Union or Confederates have the advantage leads to the feeling of helplessness the women have about what they do with John and John's own motives for wanting to stay.

Farrell as John is perfect casting. He certainly has the looks to pull off the role, but the role also shows the confidence he's exuding at this point in his career. He's always been a strong actor, but in the past five years, he's done some of his best work, and here he's performing at a high level.

Kidman, Dunst, and Fanning also give stellar performances.

Coppola, who won the best director award at this year's Cannes Film Festival, uses a slow-burn approach to build a thrilling chamber piece. It won't be a movie that works for all, but it shows another side of the filmmaker's capabilities that is a joy to watch.

SEE ALSO: 22 stars you didn't know were in the "Star Wars" movies

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Best known for her comedic work in movies and TV — and her recurring role as Trudy Campbell on “Mad Men” — Alison Brie is on the cusp of taking her career up a notch. And she’s getting there by taking on some edgy material.

On Friday, you’ll see her as the lead in the fictional origin story of how the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling got off the ground in the 1980s with the new Netflix series “GLOW.” Then a week later she and Aubrey Plaza star as horny nuns in the indie comedy “The Little Hours,” in which they seduce an attractive man-servant (played by Brie’s husband Dave Franco) who has mysteriously shown up at their 14th-century convent.

Brie recently talked to Business Insider about shedding her girl-next-door persona; how many times Franco put her through watching “The Room” in preparation for “The Disaster Artist,” an upcoming movie about the making of the bad-movie classic (directed by Dave’s brother James Franco); and her excitement about playing Meryl Streep’s daughter in the the upcoming Steven Spielberg movie “The Papers.”

Jason Guerrasio: "The Little Hours" marks the first time you and Dave have starred in a movie together. Were you guys interested in working together on a project?

Alison Brie: We were. I sort of unofficially signed on first. I've known ["The Little Hours" director] Jeff [Baena] for a couple of years.

Guerrasio: Since you did "Joshy"?

Brie: Yes. And I've known Aubrey for years just because we were both at NBC at the same time and knew each other socially. And then I worked with Jeff very briefly on "Joshy" and developed a friendship. Jeff invited me out for coffee and said he had an idea he wanted to talk to me about and pitched me this movie. And Jeff is so smart and he basically studied this time period and this topic and just as he described to me these stories from "The Decameron" and adapting them into a film. Us playing nuns in the 14th century and that Aubrey would be one of the nuns and possibly Molly Shannon — the whole idea just got me very excited. It's so unique and the majority of movies getting made today are remakes or stories that have been done before. I feel almost everything you see has a quick log line of "it's this meets this" and this was not like that at all.

Guerrasio: But was it also exciting that it was edgier than the nice girl-type roles you usually get?

Brie: Definitely. I'm always looking for that. I feel that's always the goal, to try to do work that is different from material that I have done before where characters are different or some aspect of it is different or exciting in some way. And with "The Little Hours," another big part of it was — I mean, hearing that it's going to shoot in Italy didn't hurt at all — but that it was also unscripted. Jeff had a detailed 20-page outline for what the plot of the movie would be and what would happen in each scene but there was no script so there was this feeling of it being an experimental film. That we would go to Italy with this group of people that we know and love to perform with and we would make it up together as we went along. That, to me, seemed like an amazing adventure. It kind of scared me and I'm always intrigued by things that scare me. I like to run at stuff that terrifies me.

Guerrasio: I wondered about how you pulled it off, particularly the sexuality of it. I mean, you're there with your significant other and he's taking part in some racy scenes. I know it's all performance, but did those scenes ever get weird or uncomfortable for you?

Brie: No. It really didn't. Jeff had told me the premise of the movie before Dave had signed on to do the movie, so I knew that it was about this guy who shows up and all the women seduce him. And I said, "Who are you thinking of for the guy?" Because I'm thinking, God, I hope it's someone that I respond to. And when he said Dave I was relived. And I sort of helped convince Dave a little bit to do the movie.

Guerrasio: That's funny.

Brie: I just felt, how much fun would it be to go to Italy together on this strange adventure with this movie? Also, both of us are professional and we watch each other do romantic scenes all the time. If anything, it was more comfortable because I knew all these people so well.

Guerrasio: This won't be the last time you and Dave will be in a movie together. You'll both be in "The Disaster Artist," so how many times has Dave put you through watching "The Room"?

Brie: [Laughs] Um, I think only one time.

Guerrasio: Wow. I figured at least a couple of times.

Brie: Dave signed on to do "The Disaster Artist" very early on to work with James. This was still when they were putting the movie together. So I didn't think I was going to be involved at all. I was around while Dave was doing his research, but we never watched the movie together. Then we listened to the book on tape of "The Disaster Artist" together. So from listening to that he said, "You have to see the movie now that you know the backstory," so we bought a copy of "The Room" at Amoeba and we put it on and two minutes in I was like, "I have to have a drink, I can't watch this totally sober." But the crazy thing about that movie is it's so genuine.

Guerrasio: I’ve heard people who are fans of the movie like Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd, and I'm sure James feels the same way. They don't love it because they think it's bad — they appreciate the work that's gone into it and want to champion it.

Brie: Yeah. And it's really an endearing and inspiring story about two friends trying to make it into the entertainment industry.

Guerrasio: I talked to your trainer Jason Walsh. He said you did all your own stunts for "GLOW."

Brie: I did.

Guerrasio: Did you suffer any injuries from doing all the wrestling moves?

Brie: No. Not at all. I hate to disappoint you —

Guerrasio: No, it confirms that what Jason said is true: You are a badass.

Brie: [Laughs] It definitely does. No, I think the work I did with Jason definitely helped to keep me safe. Because we certainly got banged up. I had visible bruises, you can see them on my legs and butt in episodes of the show, but we had a great wrestling trainer for the show, Chavo Guerrero Jr. He comes from a long line of wrestlers, so he was incredible with us and very patient and made us all fall in love with wrestling. And our stunt coordinator, Shauna Duggins, whose main priority really was our safety and breaking down these moves so we would be able to do them for 10-12 hours at a time. And obviously there were tricks. If the camera doesn't show all the way to the mat, there would be a pad there that we would land on. And a bigger move, like a suplex, we would limit the amount of takes. We would say, "We got five suplexes in us today, so tell us when you got the shot."

Guerrasio: You also recently have been cast in Spielberg's "The Papers," about how the Pentagon Papers were released. Can you get into who you will be playing?

Brie: I’m playing Lally Weymouth, Katharine Graham's daughter. So Meryl Streep is playing Katharine and I'm playing her daughter.

Guerrasio: Have you had a chance to meet up with Meryl yet?

Brie: I met her very briefly on set when she finished shooting a scene and she could not have been lovelier. I'm over the moon, I couldn't be more excited about that movie. I could burst into tears right now just talking about it. It's a dream come true.

Guerrasio: You are really at a point now where your profile is rising. What's the next elevation? Would you go the superhero route if called upon?

Brie: I hope that's the case. I would love to. I think especially after working on "GLOW," where we all felt like we were superheroes, in a way it has satisfied my desire to do something like that. But in some ways it's only whet my appetite. But I guess I feel very lucky that I've been able to work on such different projects recently. All different time periods and genres. So that looking forward is the goal. I love working in comedy. I would want to continue doing that, but I would also like to do more dramatic roles. Since wrapping "Mad Men" I have missed that a little so I'm excited to work on "The Papers" at that capacity. Just continuing to work with great people.

Guerrasio: Is there a superhero character you would drop everything to play?

Brie: Oh gosh, no. I'm open for any. Just call me and offer. [Laughs]  

"GLOW" is available on Netflix Friday. "The Little Hours" opens in theaters June 30.

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Gal Gadot may be the face of the biggest superhero movie on the planet right now, but she didn't get paid like it.

According to The Daily Dot, the star of "Wonder Woman" was paid $300,000. Gadot is currently in the second film of a three-picture deal in which she's being paid that figure for each project ("Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,""Wonder Woman""Justice League"). Because of the success of "Wonder Woman," it's likely Gadot is eligible for potential bonuses in her contract.

It's a surprisingly low number in the superhero-movie world, given the hundreds of millions of dollars to make and promote the films. But it's not the first time an actor has gotten that kind of paycheck. Chris Evans for "Captain America: The First Avengers" also only got a base pay of $300,000.

However, the actors in the first "Avengers" movie earned between $2-6 million after bonuses, while Robert Downey Jr. took in $50 million. And Henry Cavill earned $14 million for the first time he played Superman in "Man of Steel."

With "Wonder Woman" having earned over $570 million worldwide to date, Gadot can expect a raise when the sequel is announced.   

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Though "The Mummy" marks the biggest global opening weekend ever for Tom Cruise with $170 million, it doesn't look like it's going to help Universal's first entry in its new Dark Universe franchise stay in the black.

The movie is projected to lose $95 million, according to Deadline, when factoring in the movie's bloated production and marketing costs, which total around $345 million ($195 million production budget, $150 million for distribution and advertising). The film will have a projected total revenue of $250 million, which is a combination of what the studio gets back from theatrical release, global TV deals, and home entertainment.

Universal's saving grace has been the overseas revenue for "The Mummy." To date, the movie has taken in over $236 million in other countries compared to an extremely disappointing $57.1 million in the US. But things are likely going to change dramatically for the movie this weekend with Paramount's release of "Transformers: The Last Knight."

The latest "Transformers" will be on over 1,000 IMAX screens in 42 markets — including China, where "The Mummy" is doing major business — essentially halting the Cruise movie's forward momentum.

Deadline reports that Universal sources project "The Mummy" will earn $300 million overseas and $75 million domestically by the time its theatrical run ends.

That's not the kind of start the studio wanted for its franchise of legendary monsters that is to compete against the likes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC Comics Extended Universe.

But Universal will survive this bump. With hits earlier this year like "The Fate of the Furious,""Get Out," and "Split," along with "Despicable Me 3" coming out at the end of the month, 2017 is looking like a big year for the studio.

SEE ALSO: Gal Gadot's "Wonder Woman" salary was shockingly low

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As “Wonder Woman” continues to be a box-office juggernaut, more people are celebrating the moments that stand out from the movie, and one favorite is the “No Man’s Land” scene.

It’s the moment when Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) reveals herself as Wonder Woman. Pinned down in the frontlines of World War I, she climbs out of a trench to single-handedly take on an entire platoon of German soldiers. Standing in the middle of “No Man’s Land,” a battlefield given the name because no man has been able to cross it before, Wonder Woman takes on all the enemy firepower, allowing Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) and the other allied forces to sneak across the terrain and take out the German forces.

As we said at the time of the movie’s release: “If you aren't sucked into the movie by this point, you should really check to make sure you have a pulse.”

While in a piece for the LA Times, Meredith Woerner echoed the sentiments of a number of viewers when she said she cried while watching the scene:

“It felt like I was discovering something I didn’t even know I had always wanted... witnessing a woman hold the field, and the camera, for that long blew open an arguably monotonous genre. We didn’t need a computer-generated tree or a sassy raccoon to change the superhero game; what we needed was a woman.”

Director Patty Jenkins has not just made a movie that is a powerful addition to the superhero craze, but with the “No Man’s Land” scene — which she had to fight to get in the movie— she’s created a moment in cinematic history that young girls can use for inspiration to be strong-willed and driven in the real world.

But a lot of those goosebumps (and tears) you got from watching the scene are also courtesy of the movie’s cinematographer, Matthew Jensen. 

Jensen is no stranger to lensing CGI-fueled projects, having shot “Game of Thrones” and “Fantastic Four” (2015). He could tell when he got to London in September of 2015 to start his 12 weeks of prep work before shooting began that there was a lot riding on the “No Man’s Land” scene.

“I remember the first week we were sitting down and taking a look at the really early previsuals of the sequence and trying to make sense of it,” Jensen recently told Business Insider. “Every week of prep we made suggestions and changes because we knew it would be such an enormous undertaking.”

Jensen said it was exciting to be in a room with Jenkins and visual effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer and get into how they would reveal Wonder Woman. This entailed talking about how other superheros have been revealed in past movies and how they could do it differently. This led to the idea of having Wonder Woman climb a ladder out of the trench to reveal her full costume. They felt the shot would be “emotionally impactful,” as Jensen put it, if done right.

The anxiety going into shooting any big scene, according to Jensen, is: Can you pull off what was talked about in prep?

“You’re with a whole bunch of people throwing out ideas, so you’re getting a rush from that, but it’s always tempered by this palpable sense of dread,” Jensen said. “I think, ‘Oh my God, how am I going to pull this off?’”

Added to Jensen’s trepidation was the fact that he couldn’t use his regular crew because the production was in London. So he had to work with a local crew. Shooting began in November of 2015, but luckily the “No Man’s Land” scene wasn’t going to be shot until February, so he had some time for everyone to get acclimated with one another.

“I wouldn’t have wanted to tackle that scene early in production,” Jensen said.

The “No Man’s Land” scene was shot over two weeks on an outdoor set in London that was 300 yards in size and extremely muddy. This led to a change of the major shot in the scene.

Jensen and his crew set up wire rigs above the muddy set to hold the camera still and also give it smooth movement. In the frigid winter weather, Gadot went up the ladder for her Wonder Woman reveal numerous times as Jensen tried to get the shot right. Gadot would then go back down into the trench and be covered with coats and blankets as the camera and wire rig would take 15 minutes to reset.

“It was daunting trying to get that right,” Jensen said.

Gadot did the ladder shot close to 15 times before they finally wrapped on it. Looking back, Jensen said the wire rig wasn’t “precise enough” for what they wanted to accomplish.

So they ended up shooting Gadot on a green screen for her head-to-toe reveal as Wonder Woman as she got to the top of the ladder.

“It didn’t have the emotional impact we wanted,” Jensen said of the shots from the set. “The terrain was so tricky and getting off the ladder was tricky. It didn’t have the power we wanted it to have.”

Jensen admits that he prefers to do as much as he can in-camera, without digital effects, but in this case he has no regrets about going the CGI route.

“It was 100 percent the way to go and I’m very happy with the results we got,” Jensen said. “Sometimes it’s better to bend reality.”

In November 2016, he saw Jenkins' cut, and though the CGI and color correction weren't finished, he got goosebumps watching the scene, especially the buildup of Wonder Woman’s climb up the ladder, for which he included insert shots of her shield, boots, and lasso. But he was still nervous going into the world premiere of the movie.

“I was sitting next to my wife and I nearly squeezed the blood out of her hand throughout the whole premiere,” Jensen said. “Only in the last couple of weeks have I come to terms that people like it.”

But it's still hard for Jensen to fathom how much the “No Man’s Land” scene has affected audiences. Particularly the idea that fans and fellow DPs will be closely examining his work for years to come.

“It’s just dawning on me as you’re saying it right now,” Jensen said. “To think my work will be studied, I’ve never thought that. I thought at best I would be making movies that would be critically well-received but nobody would see them. It’s extraordinary.”

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It looks like our wish has come true, or mostly: A "Wonder Woman" sequel is in the works and its director, Patty Jenkins, is involved.

But there's a catch: She's not officially the director yet.

In a profile on Warner Bros. head Toby Emmerich for Variety, the studio chief confirmed that Jenkins is already working on a sequel to the studio's smash hit.

According to the story, the sequel is planned to take place in the past but not during World War I, which was the period for the first movie. 

Keeping things close to the vest, Emmerich coyly said in the story, "It will take place somewhere between 1917 and 2017." 

Variety also spoke to DC Films heads Jon Berg and Geoff Johns, and Johns chimed in about the sequel plans.

"Patty and I are writing the treatment right now," Johns said. "The goal is to make another great 'Wonder Woman' film. I had a blast making it with Patty the first time. We've got a cool idea for the second one."

But neither story says that Jenkins is signed on as the director. At the moment she's involved only with writing the treatment. A source told Business Insider that it is still to be determined if Jenkins will direct the sequel.

"Wonder Woman" has grossed over $570 million worldwide to date. 

Warner Bros. had no comment for this story. 

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According to Variety, Daniel Day-Lewis has announced his retirement from acting.

He didn't give a reason for leaving the profession, but his spokeswoman, Leslee Dart, confirmed the rumor in a statement:

"Daniel Day-Lewis will no longer be working as an actor. He is immensely grateful to all of his collaborators and audiences over the many years. This is a private decision and neither he nor his representatives will make any further comment on this subject."

The 60-year-old Day-Lewis, who holds both English and Irish citizenship, is known for being picky in selecting roles and taking long breaks in between projects.

When he does act, he acts hard.

The three-time Oscar winner and five-time nominee hasn't made an appearance in a movie since 2012's "Lincoln," for which he won his third Oscar for best actor.

He won his second Oscar for "There Will Be Blood" in 2008 and his first for "My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown" in 1990.

Day-Lewis will appear in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Phantom Thread" later this year and will participate in promoting it, but it will be his last film.

He will be missed, but if JAY-Z and LCD Soundsystem are any indication, there's always a chance that an artist can come out of retirement.

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With “Transformers: The Last Knight” (opening in theaters on Wednesday), we have arrived at the fifth movie in the series based on the legendary Hasbro toys — perhaps the franchise that’s most in on the joke that everything on the screen is just insane.

Director Michael Bay’s final time (or so he says) at the helm of the franchise is filled with a lot of fun and bizarre moments to counter the serious tone of the story, which includes Optimus Prime turning evil and the possibility that the world will come to an end.

But not even the unusual sight of Anthony Hopkins acting across a Transformer is worth a summer movie with a running time of over two hours, and that’s what you’ll have to go through if you decide to go see this movie. (But those who have watched the entire franchise, or many of Bay’s movies, know what they're getting into here.)

In “The Last Knight,” we are given a bit of a history lesson, Transformers-style. The machines have actually been coming to earth since the Dark Ages, fighting along equally mythical legends like Lancelot and the wizard Merlin. In fact, it’s Merlin (played delightfully by Stanley Tucci) who is given a staff by one of the Transformers that would give him the magic behind his sorcery.

But there was always a warning that someone evil would one day come to earth and take back the staff, which leads us to the present day.

Mark Wahlberg returns as Cade Yeager, the struggling inventor who has befriended the Autobots. Since the last movie, “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” Transformers are appearing on earth more frequently and the humans have turned against them all — Autobots and Decepticons.

Yeager keeps the Autobots hidden in a junkyard hoping to hold out until Optimus Prime returns to lead them again.

Prime has gone back to his home planet of Cybertron, but there he’s brainwashed by the evil Quintessa and ordered to return back to earth to retrieve the staff. While back on earth, astronomer Sir Edmond Burton (Hopkins), the keeper of the Transformers legacy with humans, recruits Yeager and Oxford professor Viviane Wembley (Laura Haddock) to find the Merlin staff and save the world.

If you understood any of that, congratulations, you are on the same wavelength as Michael Bay and his screenwriters.

As with most Bay movies, it’s the action and silly moments that are the most enjoyable. A highlight in “The Last Knight” is a Transformer doubling as Burton’s butler named Cogman who tries desperately to be dignified, though he can’t help being overcome by violent outbursts.

Some enjoyable Cogman scenes: When he randomly attacks Yeager, when he has road rage in the middle of a car chase (while Burton gives chasing Decepticons the middle finger), and when our heroes are in a submarine (yes, there are submarines in this movie) and Cogman catches fish for Yeager and Wembley and we watch as the machine beats the hell out of the fish before serving them.

Needless to say, this isn't a good Transformers movie to bring the kids to (lots of adult language, too).

Then there’s Bumblebee, who has always been the highlight of the franchise and doesn’t disappoint in this one (a spin-off movie for "B" is in the works).

The biggest gripe I have with the movie is simply that it’s way too long. It’s one of the better movies in the franchise, but why Bay feels he needs over two hours to tell these stories is puzzling.

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On Tuesday night Lucasfilm announced on StarWars.com that it made a directing change for its untitled Han Solo movie, parting ways with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller due to "creative differences," though there were only a few weeks left of principal photography.

The move is an unprecedented one in the history of Hollywood, as one of the landmark franchises in the business is now scrambling to complete one of its most anticipated standalone movies.

The announcement also states that the movie, which is still untitled, remains slated for release in May of 2018.

Since that initial news broke, there have been numerous reports about what led to the split, including one which reveals that Lord and Miller ("The Lego Movie,""21 Jump Street" and sequel) were fired from the project by Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy.

Here's a rundown of what led to that decision and who may be hired to finish the movie:

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"It’s become clear that we had different creative visions..."

The untitled young Han Solo movie — starring Alden Ehrenreich as the iconic space smuggler that Harrison Ford played in the original movies, Donald Glover as Solo's friend Lando Calrissian, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, and Michael K. Williams — has been shooting in London since February and only had several weeks left of principal photography when news hit that directors Lord and Miller would be leaving the project.

“Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are talented filmmakers who have assembled an incredible cast and crew, but it’s become clear that we had different creative visions on this film, and we’ve decided to part ways. A new director will be announced soon,” Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, said in a statement that appeared on StarWars.com on Tuesday.

“Unfortunately, our vision and process weren’t aligned with our partners on this project," Lord and Miller said in the same statement. "We normally aren’t fans of the phrase ‘creative differences’ but for once this cliché is true. We are really proud of the amazing and world-class work of our cast and crew."

Both sides were saying the right things, but digging deeper it seems there was a lot of friction on set.

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy reportedly fired Lord and Miller.

The directors did not leave the project voluntarily, but were fired by Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy, according to Variety. The move followed months of conflict between Kennedy, who is also one of the producers on the movie, and the directors. 

"It was a culture clash from day one."

Sources told Variety that even though Lord and Miller felt they had made their bones in the business after helming ambitious movies like "The Lego Movie" and "21 Jump Street" and deserved some creative freedom, it turned out making a "Star Wars" movie meant being under the control of Kennedy.

The two were constantly criticized for the the style in which they shot scenes and their interaction with their stars.

“It was a culture clash from day one,” a source told Variety. “She didn’t even like the way they folded their socks.”

The way they worked even got under the skin of the movie's screenwriter, Lawrence Kasdan, who has been part of the "Star Wars" family going back to when he penned "The Empire Strikes Back."

Summer is finally upon us and it's a good time to crank up the air conditioning and take in the perfect movie. 

To help you do just that, INSIDER has rounded up a list of the films that really capture the magic, fun, and heated emotions of summer. 

Whether it's taking a trip to Rome in "Lizzie McGuire" or finding your long lost twin like in "The Parent Trap," these summer-based flicks will get you in the mood for the season of surf and sand. 

Here are 11 perfect movies to watch during the summer:

1. "The Parent Trap"

In a remake of the 1961 classic, Lindsay Lohan plays twin sisters Annie and Hallie who were separated after their parents divorce and find each other 11 years later during summer camp. The two then proceed to switch places to get to know their parents and eventually bring them back together. That's kind of a risky move for two 11-year-old girls to pull off, but that's what made this movie more of a classic than the original. 

2. "The Last Song"

If you need a refresher on how Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth got started, it begins right here with this film. In the Nicholas Sparks drama (based on the novel of the same name), Cyrus' character Ronnie and her brother Jonah (Bobby Coleman) visit their estranged father for the summer on a beach in North Carolina. Over the course of the trip, Ronnie eventually falls in love with Will Blakelee (Hemsworth), builds a stain glass window to appease her dad who is terminally ill, and even gets into Juilliard for being a piano protege. Although this film has it's tearful moments, it's definitely enlightening and a good summer watch. 

3. "50 First Dates"

This fun romantic comedy marks the second time Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore channeled their on camera chemistry since starring in "The Wedding Singer." Adam Sandler 's character, Henry, falls in love with a girl named Lucy (Barrymore) who suffers from amnesia due to a car accident. Every single day, she wakes up forgetting what happened the day before which becomes a struggle for Henry to get Lucy to fall in love with him. If you enjoy the comedic thrill of both actors together, you can watch them continue the fun they bring to big screen in the 2014 comedy "Blended." 

The INSIDER Summary:

• "Transformers: The Last Knight" is in theaters June 21.
• It's the fifth movie in the franchise.
• Despite the "Transformers" movies making less domestically at theaters, they continue to kill it overseas.
• The last two movies in the franchise have each grossed over $1 billion.

A fifth "Transformers" movie is in theaters this weekend and if you're among those who wonder how a fifth movie based on toys can possibly be made despite negative reviews for the series as a whole, there's a pretty simple answer. 

Paramount's not making these movies for domestic audiences anymore. These movies are made for international viewers. 

Just take a look at the box office grosses for the first four films:

But now, look at the breakdown of how much each of those four movies has made domestically versus internationally.

While there's an obvious downward trend in interest in the "Transformers" franchise in the states, it continues to make more money overseas.

"Transformers: Age of Extinction," the fourth installment in the series, grossed more than $320 million in China when it debuted in 2014. Unsurprisingly, the newest film, "The Last Knight" had its world premiere in China on June 13 and celebrated the franchise's 10th anniversary there. 

Meanwhile, the US premiere of "The Last Knight" was held June 20, one day before the film's release. US reviews were embargoed until late Tuesday evening. That shouldn't come as too much of a surprise either. Critic reviews for the previous "Transformers" movies have increasingly become lower as the series continued.

So far, early reviews for the new movie are fairly negative, but don't think that will stop it from being a monster hit. Forbes' Mark Hughes predicts that while it may not make as much as the last two films in the franchise, it will fare just fine overseas.

One thing's clear: Whatever you think about the Transformers' films, Paramount's not making these movies for the US anymore.

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