<\/p>\n
Our movie and media Calendar appears every Friday\/Saturday on <\/em>C-U Blogfidential<\/span><\/strong> and caters to the downstate region anchored by Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, USA.<\/em><\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n FIELD REPORT DU HQ | From Wherever It May Be Said<\/strong><\/p>\n Filing early on this week\u2019s Report<\/strong> since Ye Ed<\/strong> is attending a wedding, so wethinks another textbook edition will fit the bill just fine. To start, Amy Penne<\/strong> of Smile Politely<\/span><\/strong> has once again delivered in the quest to document the current state of our film culture du C-U; her recent article discusses a significant aspect of the groundwork<\/a><\/span> that Shatterglass Films, Flyover Film Studios<\/strong>, and their partners, such as Parkland College<\/strong> in this instance, have been laying for a sustainable production hub here in Champaign County<\/strong>, and that is a program to train a workforce of local residents to competently handle the necessary below-the-line jobs on a set or at the soundstage being developed up in Rantoul<\/strong>. Next, we caught a social media pitch by Ben Harl<\/strong> of Silver Compass Studios<\/strong> in Decatur<\/strong> for casting a proof-of-concept reel his team will be filming this summer for THE DARK ONES<\/strong>, a horror-in-a-cabin-in-the-woods story that can\u2019t help but suggest Lovecraftian overtones; follow this dedicated Facebook<\/strong> account to get future announcements<\/a><\/span> about casting and more. And, yes<\/em>, we noticed, but the concept art is temporary in both cases according to the respective filmmakers on their own socials and will be replaced with appropriate visuals in due time…<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n Then, we also<\/em> caught fleeting glimpses on social media related to the surprise indie DARK SOUL RIVER<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, filmed in the late spring at Flyover and elsewhere, and decided to investigate; this Instagram<\/strong> account<\/a><\/span> is promoting Vijay M. Rajan<\/strong>\u2019s serial killer chamber piece, introducing us to the primary cast members and several behind-the-camera talents, while this Internet Movie Database<\/strong> entry<\/a><\/span> has a selection of behind-the-scenes photographs that may be our dearest readers\u2019 first look at movie sets constructed in the Flyover facilities, formerly one of the Octave Chanute Air Force Base<\/strong> hangars. To close, Mr. JaPan<\/strong> had a nice chat at the location shoot of Acrostar Productions\u2019 PERFECT SOUL<\/strong>\u00a0with Michele Hefner<\/strong>, a resident of Peoria<\/strong> and dedicated stage mother for her actress daughter Delilah \u201cDee\u201d Hefner,<\/strong> who is putting on a producer\u2019s hat for an upcoming episodic saga called PEORIA JOAN<\/strong>; the all-ages melding of Dora and Indiana Jones will star the younger Hefner as \u201cJoni,\u201d also known as \u201cPeoria Joan,\u201d who goes on a quest to keep the ruthless contractor \u201cVictor Crane,\u201d played by veteran Illinois<\/strong> stage actor Dave Krostal<\/strong>, from destroying the valuable history and secrets ingrained in Peoria River<\/strong> country. Some casting has been revealed<\/a><\/span> on Facebook and additional roles need to be filled as detailed on this website<\/a><\/span>. Go, Joan!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n IMAGERY DU C-U | Picturing Our Scene on the Screen<\/strong><\/p>\n In today’s outing, inspired by Ye Ed<\/strong>\u2019s set visit and brief participation in the filming of PERFECT SOUL<\/strong> this past week, we\u2019ll share yet another example of promotional artwork for a project in the early goings, although S. J. Hermann<\/strong>\u2019s adaptation of his own novel is clearly much further along than either THE DARK ONES<\/strong> or John Isberg<\/strong> and Swede Films\u2019 BIG MUDDY<\/strong>. Debuted on Facebook<\/strong> at the Acrostar Productions\u00a0<\/strong>fan group<\/a><\/span> back in April, the devilishly eerie creation is by the artist Erik W. Wilson<\/strong><\/a><\/span> and based on a picture of lead actress Chloe Lutz<\/strong> taken by the movie\u2019s director of photography, Ashley Hefner<\/strong>. (And, yes<\/em>, you noticed; the Hefners are all related and very active in downstate filmmaking!) Immediately below, you will find an exclusive behind-the-scenes peek at Lutz in costume as \u201cNikki Strange,\u201d makeup effects artist Beth Metcalf<\/strong>, and Hefner snapped by yours truly in between takes of a pivotal sermon sequence. We\u2019ll soon share more images with you in service of articles recounting the making of PERFECT SOUL<\/strong> this year \u2013 the production has a second round of filming scheduled at their rural Illinois<\/strong> location in the fall \u2013 and RETURN OF THE CORN ZOMBIES<\/strong>, which is on the cusp of commercial release through BayView Entertainment<\/strong> after its filming last year in Champaign County<\/strong>. Hopefully, it will be an interesting read about the life cycles of low-budget independent film creation as seen through the Acrostar lens, and we thank their producer Ann Myrna<\/strong> for being generous in accommodating us to experience what they do.<\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n NOW PLAYING | Champaign-Urbana Area<\/strong><\/p>\n @ AMC Champaign 13, Champaign, IL<\/strong> @ Phoenix Savoy 16 + IMAX, Savoy, IL<\/strong> @ Main Quad, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL<\/strong> @ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL<\/strong> Events featuring locally produced movies are marked with an asterisk (*). Additional \u201cNow Playing\u201d and \u201cComing Soon\u201d listings appear after the jump!<\/em><\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n <\/p>\n NOW PLAYING | The Cities Beyond<\/strong><\/p>\n @ Clintonia Eagle Theater, Clinton, IL<\/strong> @ The Harvest Moon Twin Drive-in, Gibson City, IL<\/strong> @ The Lorraine Theatre, Hoopeston, IL<\/strong> @ Marcus Bloomington Cinema + IMAX, Bloomington, IL<\/strong> @ The Normal Theater, Normal, IL<\/strong> @ The Onarga Theatre, Onarga, IL<\/strong> @ The Princess Theatre, Leroy, IL<\/strong> @ The Route 66 Drive-in Theater, Springfield, IL<\/strong> @ VIP Lincoln Grand 6, Lincoln, IL<\/strong> \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n NOW PLAYING | Midwest<\/strong><\/p>\n @ Chicago Filmmakers Firehouse Cinema, Chicago, IL<\/strong> @ Chicago Filmmakers Firehouse Cinema, Chicago, IL<\/strong> For detailed and curated listings of Chicago-area film presentations and related events, please visit the fine folks at<\/em> Cine-File<\/strong> and subscribe to their definitive \u201cCine-List\u201d weekly blast<\/a><\/span>. And for northern Illinois industry news, be sure to read<\/em> Reel Chicago<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/span> and<\/em> Screen Magazine<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n COMING SOON | Area-wide Events<\/strong><\/p>\n NEW! 8\/16<\/strong> 9\/20-9\/22<\/strong> 11\/8-11\/9<\/strong> 4\/23-4\/26, 2026<\/strong> \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n COMMUNITY & CAMPUS SERIES | Champaign-Urbana area<\/strong><\/p>\n Champaign Park District presents \u201cMoo-vie Nights at Prairie Farm\u201d<\/strong> Illini Union Board presents \u201cSummer Films on the Quad\u201d<\/strong> ~~~~~<\/p>\n Compiled by Jason Pankoke.<\/em><\/p>\n ~~~~~<\/p>\n \u201cCalendar du C-U\u201d Select movie listings for June 20-26, 2025 in Champaign, Urbana, and the cities beyond! Don\u2019t forget to peruse this week\u2019s Field Report! And, did you take a peek at the “Perfect” Images of the week?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[869,19,15,10],"tags":[2749,3017,3007,2502,3016,870,2942,3015,1341,2775,3014,720,1592,3013,2854,2199,3012],"class_list":["post-16557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-calendar-du-c-u","category-images-du-cu","category-media-coverage","category-production-updates","tag-acrostar-productions","tag-ashley-hefner","tag-big-muddy","tag-champaign-urbana-il","tag-chloe-lutz","tag-cinema-calendar","tag-dark-soul-river","tag-delilah-hefner","tag-film-production","tag-flyover-film-studios","tag-michele-hefner","tag-parkland-college","tag-peoria-il","tag-peoria-joan","tag-perfect-soul","tag-silver-compass-studios","tag-the-dark-ones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16557"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16568,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16557\/revisions\/16568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n28 YEARS LATER, BRIDE HARD, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN 20th anniversary (re-release), ELIO (animation), SITAARE ZAMEEN PAR* (in Hindi with English sub), BALLERINA, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES*, LILO & STITCH, MATERIALISTS, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE \u2013 THE FINAL RECKONING (6\/20 on), Studio Ghibli Fest: THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY (anim\u00e9) (6\/22, 4 & 7 p.m., 6\/24, 7 p.m., English sub; 6\/23, 7 p.m., in Japanese with English sub), AMC \u201cScreen Unseen\u201d (mystery movie) (6\/23, 7 p.m.), F1 THE MOVIE sneak preview (6\/25, 7 p.m.), F1 THE MOVIE, ME3AN 2.0 (6\/26 on) *single screenings daily<\/p>\n
\n28 YEARS LATER, BRIDE HARD, ELIO (animation), BALLERINA, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, THE LIFE OF CHUCK, LILO & STITCH, MATERIALISTS, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE \u2013 THE FINAL RECKONING. THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME, SINNERS, THUNDERBOLTS* (6\/20 on), Studio Ghibli Fest: THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY (anim\u00e9) (6\/22, 4 & 7 p.m., 6\/24, 7 p.m., English sub; 6\/23, 7 p.m., in Japanese with English sub), TOP GUN (6\/22, 3 & 7 p.m.; 6\/25, 7 p.m.), \u201c\u2018Critical Role\u2019 Live\u201d (role-playing game competition) (6\/25, 7 p.m., simulcast from Sydney, Australia), F1 THE MOVIE (6\/26 on)<\/p>\n
\nIllini Union Board presents \u201cSummer Films on the Quad\u201d feat. A MINECRAFT MOVIE (6\/26, 9 p.m., free)<\/p>\n
\nJ-GEE & T Presents present \u201cJay & Silent Bob Aural Sects Tour\u201d starring Kevin Smith & Jay Mewes (6\/25, 7:30 p.m.)<\/p>\n
\n28 YEARS LATER, ELIO (animation), HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, LILO & STITCH, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE \u2013 THE FINAL RECKONING (6\/20 on), DESPICABLE 3 (animation) (6\/25-6\/26, 10 a.m., free)<\/p>\n
\nHOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (Screen 1), 28 YEARS LATER (Screen 2) (6\/20 on)<\/p>\n
\nHOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (6\/20-6\/22)<\/p>\n
\n28 YEARS LATER, BRIDE HARD, ELIO (animation), BALLERINA, FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, KARATE KID: LEGENDS, LILO & STITCH, MATERIALISTS, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE \u2013 THE FINAL RECKONING (6\/20 on), Indian cinema: 8 VASANTHALU* (Telugu w\/Eng sub; 6\/20-6\/25), KUBERRA (Hindi, Tamil, or Telugu w\/Eng sub; 6\/20-6\/25), and SITAARE ZAMEEN PAR* (Hindi w\/Eng sub; 6\/20-6\/25), Studio Ghibli Fest: THE SECRET WORLD OF ARRIETTY (anim\u00e9) (6\/22, 3:30 p.m., 6\/24, 7 p.m., English sub; 6\/23, 7 p.m., in Japanese with English sub), A SLOTH STORY (animation) (6\/22-6\/26, 11 a.m.), BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN 20th anniversary (re-release) (6\/22, 6\/25), Marcus \u201cMystery Movie\u201d (6\/25, 7 p.m.), F1 THE MOVIE sneak preview (6\/25, 7 p.m.), \u201c\u2018Critical Role\u2019 Live\u201d (role-playing game competition) (6\/25, 7 p.m., simulcast from Sydney, Australia), F1 THE MOVIE, ME3AN 2.0 (6\/26 on) *single screenings daily<\/p>\n
\nGREASE \u201csing-a-long\u201d edition (6\/20, 7 p.m.), GREASE (6\/21-6\/22), A KNIGHT\u2019S TALE (6\/22), THE BFG (6\/23, 6\/25), THE GREAT OUTDOORS (6\/26)<\/p>\n
\nHOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (6\/20-6\/22)<\/p>\n
\nMISSION: IMPOSSIBLE \u2013 THE FINAL RECKONING (6\/20-6\/22)<\/p>\n
\nHOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, KARATE KID: LEGENDS (Screen 1), ELIO (animation), LILO & STITCH (Screen 2) (6\/20-6\/22, 6\/24-6\/25)<\/p>\n
\n28 YEARS LATER, ELIO (animation), BALLERINA, EYE FOR AN EYE*, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, LILO & STITCH, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE \u2013 THE FINAL RECKONING (6\/20 on), DESPICABLE ME 4 (animation) (6\/25-6\/26, 10 a.m.), F1 THE MOVIE, ME3AN 2.0 (6\/26 on) *single screenings daily<\/p>\n
\nRESCHEDULED: Chicago Filmmakers presents THE PREMIERE w\/filmmaker Jon Silver in attendance (6\/20, 7 p.m.)<\/p>\n
\nChicago Filmmakers presents \u201cPicture ReStart\u201d series, \u201cOur Heavenly Bodies\u201d program (6\/21, 6 p.m.)<\/p>\n
\nPens to Lens Gala 2025*
\n@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL, 3 p.m.<\/p>\n
\nChampaign Film Society presents
\nthe first CineSonic* music film festival
\n@ TBA, Champaign-Urbana, IL<\/p>\n
\nDark History & Horror Con 2025
\n@ The Orpheum Theatre, Champaign, IL<\/p>\n
\nRoger Ebert\u2019s Film Festival*
\n@ The Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL<\/p>\n
\n@ Prairie Farm\/Centennial Park, Champaign, IL, 8 p.m., free<\/strong>
\n6\/27: OPEN SEASON; 7\/11: BABE; 7\/25: HOME ON THE RANGE; 8\/8: CHARLOTTE\u2019S WEB (2006)<\/p>\n
\n@ Main Quad, Illini Union, UIUC, Urbana, IL, 9 p.m. Thursdays, free<\/strong>
\n7\/3: THE PATRIOT; 7\/10: THE WOMAN IN THE YARD; 7\/17: THE LEGEND OF OCHI; 7\/24: DROP; 7\/31: THUNDERBOLTS*; 8\/7: LILO & STITCH; 8\/14: MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE \u2013 THE FINAL RECKONING<\/p>\n
\n\u00a9 2025 Jason Pankoke\/C-U Blogfidential<\/span>
\n[T \u2212113]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"