Calendar: August 1-7, 2025
Our movie and media Calendar appears every Friday/Saturday on C-U Blogfidential and caters to the downstate region anchored by Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, USA.
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MILESTONES | Happy Birthday to You!
8/1: Cara Maurizi (actress, SWEET DREAMING, Consumer Grade Film Co., Chicago, IL + actress, ESSENCE, Refractive Error Media, Champaign, IL)
8/1: Jed Brian (writer, 4TH OF JULY, ACM Official Studios, Los Angeles, CA)
8/2: Jeff Kacmarynski (writer/director, ESSENCE, Refractive Error Media, Champaign, IL)
8/3: Laura Richter (producer, FINAL DAYS: TALES FROM THE END TIMES, Horror-Fix Feature Films, Springfield, IL)
FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said
Hells bells, we did not forecast all that movie news trickling in to MFHQ Deux with little to no warning! Guess we’re needing to dam up the flow for the short term and partition out the scoops in order to cover our ground! We’ll take “Production and Producers” for $300 and the win, Ken … According to the Jacksonville Journal-Courier this week, Subterranean Sound and Vision has raised enough funding through a Kickstarter campaign to soon begin production on a self-described “zombie Western” called HOLLER. The directing team of Devin Smock and Samuel David plan to shoot the feature in the Peoria and Jacksonville areas and take advantage of “big sky” qualities in the Illinois prairie as they depict the survival struggles of Ray Holley (Rick Jensen) and Sydney (Mia Katz), who are navigating a post-apocalyptic world; Joe Rosing, Luis Angel Ventura, Pamela Devon Lovell, and Mercedes DeSilva will also appear in the adventure with camerawork by Kal Kociss and sound work by Lee Hurt.
Also this week, the news bureau of Illinois State University ran a joint interview with business partners David Midell and Enrico Natale, who attended the Wonsook Kim School of Fine Arts in the early 2000s; they eventually founded Redbird Entertainment of Los Angeles, through which they have made a handful of feature films so far including the Al Pacino-Dan Stevens thriller THE RITUAL, which played in theaters nationwide a few weeks ago through XYZ Films, and University of Illinois alumnus Christpher Folkens’ latest, CATALYST, released earlier this year on multiple digital platforms by 4Digital Media.
And, looking mere minutes into the immediate future, writer/director Paul A. Brooks and Into the Night Motion Pictures of Normal have teased that filming on BRING BACK MY BABY, a love story of loss and spectral encounters, would begin tomorrow, Saturday, August 2, in the Los Angeles area. Their second feature, following HUNTING FOR THE HAG from last year, will star Fawn Winters, Emma Broz, Joey Greer, Lesley Powers, and low-budget veteran Joe Estevez; breaking news on both projects and even more will be forthcoming from Into the Night on Instagram and Facebook as well as here at CUBlog. Oh, baby!
NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area
@ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL
THE BAD GUYS 2 (animation), THE NAKED GUN, SHE RIDES SHOTGUN, THALAVIAN THALAIVII (in Tamil with English sub), TOGETHER, F1 THE MOVIE*, THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH, OH HI!, SMURFS (animation), SUPERMAN (8/1 on), AMC “Screen Unseen” (mystery movie) (8/4, 7 p.m.), SKETCH (8/4 on), FREAKIER FRIDAY, WEAPONS (8/7 on) *single screenings daily
@ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL
THE BAD GUYS 2 (animation), THE NAKED GUN, TOGETHER, EDDINGTON, ELIO (animation), F1 THE MOVIE, THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, THE HOME, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH, LILO & STITCH, SMURFS (animation), SUPERMAN (8/1 on), THE BLUES BROTHERS (8/3, 3 & 7 p.m.; 8/6, 7 p.m.), “‘Critical Role’ Live” (role-playing game competition) (8/5, 7 p.m., simulcast from Indianapolis, Indiana), WHAT IF… 15th anniversary (faith film) (8/5, 8/7, 7 p.m.), SKETCH (8/5 on), The Metropolitan Opera Encore: Lucia di Lammermoor (8/6, 1 & 6:30 p.m., recorded), FREAKIER FRIDAY, WEAPONS (8/7 on)
@ Main Quad, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL
Illini Union Board presents “Summer Films on the Quad” feat. LILO & STITCH (8/7, 9 p.m., free)
Events featuring locally produced movies are marked with an asterisk (*). Additional “Now Playing” and “Coming Soon” listings appear after the jump!
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NOW PLAYING | The Cities Beyond
@ Clintonia Eagle Theater, Clinton, IL
THE BAD GUYS 2 (animation), THE NAKED GUN, THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH, SUPERMAN (8/1 on), SHREK (animation) (8/1-8/2, 10 a.m., free)
@ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL
“PickleFest 2025” + “Pajama Paw-ty” fundraiser for animal shelters feat. THE BAD GUYS 2 (animation) (Screen 1), THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS (Screen 2) (8/1-8/6), THE BAD GUYS 2 (animation) (Screen 1), FREAKIER FRIDAY (Screen 2) (8/7)
@ The Lorraine Theatre, Hoopeston, IL
TOGETHER (8/1-8/3), FREAKIER FRIDAY (8/7)
@ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL
REAL GENIUS, AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY (8/1-8/3), the Normal and the Children’s Discovery Museum present CINDERELLA (animation) (8/4, 1 p.m.; 8/6, 7 p.m.), “The Summer of Bond” series feat. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH (8/7)
@ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL
THE BAD GUYS 2 (animation) (8/1-8/3)
@ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL
SUPERMAN (8/1-8/3)
@ The Route 66 Drive-in Theater, Springfield, IL
THE BAD GUYS 2 (animation), JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH (Screen 1), THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, SUPERMAN (Screen 2) (8/1-8/3, 8/6-87)
@ VIP Lincoln Grand 6, Lincoln, IL
THE BAD GUYS 2 (animation), THE NAKED GUN, THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS, SMURFS (animation), JURASSIC WORLD: REBIRTH, SUPERMAN (8/1 on), I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER* (8/1-8/2), SUNSET BOULEVARD 75th anniversary (8/3, 1 & 7 p.m.; 8/4, 7 p.m.), MIGRATION (animation) (8/6-8/7, 10 a.m.)
NOW PLAYING | Midwest
For detailed and curated listings of Chicago-area film presentations and related events, please visit the fine folks at Cine-File and subscribe to their definitive “Cine-List” weekly blast. And for northern Illinois industry news, be sure to read Reel Chicago and Screen Magazine.
COMING SOON | Area-wide Events
8/16
Pens to Lens Gala 2025*
@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 3 p.m.
8/16-8/17
“FischerFest”* celebrating Gene Hackman
@ The Fischer Theatre, Danville, IL
9/17-9/21
32nd Chicago Underground Film Festival
@ ACX Harper Theater – Hyde Park, Chicago, IL
NEW! 9/19-9/28
43rd Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ International Film Festival
@ Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema + Chicago Filmmakers, Chicago, IL
9/20-9/22
Champaign Film Society presents
the first CineSonic* music film festival
@ TBA, Champaign-Urbana, IL
10/15-10/26
61st Chicago International Film Festival
@ Music Box Theatre, etc., Chicago, IL
11/7-11/8
24th Route 66 International Film Festival*
@ Hoogland Center for the Arts, Springfield, IL
11/8-11/9
Dark History & Horror Con* 2025
feat. Screaming Mad Film Festival
@ The Orpheum Theatre, Champaign, IL
COMMUNITY & CAMPUS SERIES | Champaign-Urbana area
Champaign Park District presents “Moo-vie Nights at Prairie Farm”
@ Prairie Farm/Centennial Park, Champaign, IL, 8 p.m., free
8/8: CHARLOTTE’S WEB (2006)
Illini Union Board presents “Summer Films on the Quad”
@ Main Quad, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 9 p.m. Thursdays, free
8/14: MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – THE FINAL RECKONING
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Compiled by Jason Pankoke.
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“Calendar du C-U”
© 2025 Jason Pankoke/C-U Blogfidential
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