Calling an Audible on This Week’s Three Trailers: Pee-wee, Predators, and Wednesday Addams

I usually plan this column out in advance. But sometimes, the Powers That Be drop a bunch of intriguing trailers on my head, and I scrap my plans on Thursday night to bring you the shiny new toys I’m excited about. This is one of those times.

When Paul Reubens created Pee-Wee Herman, he created an icon who grew from stage to television to film. He’s got catchphrases, an instantly recognizable wardrobe, a magic bicycle, and a cast of legendary Hollywood friends. The upcoming two-part documentary, Pee-wee as Himself includes parts of a 40-hour-long interview Reubens did with director Matt Wolf before his 2023 death from cancer and a selection of thousands of hours of archival footage and never-before-seen photographs from Reubens’ personal collection.

Pee-wee as Himself will premiere on HBO MAX on May 23.

Director Dan Trachtenberg (Prey) continues to expand the Predator universe with Predator: Badlands. The film is set on an unknown planet sometime in the future, where a young Predator is cast out by his clan and finds adventure. Is it also a Highlander movie? Because that kind of sounds like Highlander. Ooooh, can you imagine that crossover?

Predator: Badlands stars Elle Fanning and Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi. It opens in theaters on November 7.

I really wanted to love the first season of Netflix’s Wednesday. It had some great high points. But its low points were really low. I hope they can even it out in season two. Jenna Ortega, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán, and Isaac Ordonez all return as The Addams Family along with Emma Myers (A Minecraft Movie) and Victor Dorobantu as Thing. Billie Piper and Steve Buscemi are joining the cast.

Part 1 of season two begins streaming on Netflix on August 6th. Part 2 begins on September 3rd.

This week’s lagniappe is bonus Predator!! The animated series, Predator: Killer of Killers begins streaming on Hulu on June 6th.