From Deadline : “Joel Courtney & Crystal Reed To Star In ‘Pinball’ Film From Austin And Meredith Bragg”

EXCLUSIVE: Joel Courtney (Kissing Booth, Super 8) and Crystal Reed (Swamp Thing, Teen Wolf) have signed on to star in Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game for MPI Original Films.

The dramatic comedy produced by MPI is based on the true story of writer and pinball wizard Roger Sharpe, chronicling his journey to overturn New York City’s 35-year ban on pinball.

Austin and Meredith Bragg wrote and directed the film, which heads into production in October.

Stacey Parks, Lana Link, and Rob Pfaltzgraff will produce, with Nick Reid and Roger Sharpe on board as exec producers.

“Joel and Crystal bring so much remarkable talent and warmth to the project,” said The Bragg Brothers. “We’re thrilled to have them on board to bring Roger’s story to the screen.”

Courtney is currently in production on the Netflix film Players, starring alongside Damon Wayans Jr. and Gina Rodriguez. He’ll also soon be seen in the final film of Netflix’s The Kissing Booth trilogy, reprising his role as Lee Flynn.

The actor first burst onto the scene in J.J. Abram’s 2011 film Super 8, which had him starring opposite Elle Fanning and others. Other film and TV credits include Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, The Between, Mercy, Dear Eleanor, Sins of Our Youth, CW’s The Messengers, The Empty Man and 2019 indie, Pursued.

Reed is perhaps best known for her turn as Allison Argent in MTV’s Teen Wolf series. The actress recently played the lead role of Abby in Warner Bros. series, Swamp Thing. She also featured in Season 4 of the FBC for Warner Bros. Television series Gotham, portraying Sofia Falcone.

Reed’s other credits include Too Late, Crush, Jewtopia, Skyline, Incident in a Ghost Land and Crazy Stupid Love, in which she appeared opposite Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell.

Courtney is represented by Gersh and Authentic Talent & Literary Management. Reed is repped by ICM Partners and Silver Lining Entertainment.

From Digital Spy : “Netflix's Kissing Booth star lands next lead role”

Get ready for a film about... pinball?

Kissing Booth and Super 8 star Joel Courtney is joining Swamp Thing and Teen Wolf's Crystal Reed for a new film that's all about... pinball?!

As reported by Deadline, the pair have been signed up for Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game.

You might think 'why did pinball need saving?' Well the game was actually banned in New York for almost 25 years, because lawmakers thought that winning was random, and it was designed to make people steal money in order to carry on playing.

That is until a man named Roger Sharpe successfully fought to overturn the ban, proving in court through his sheer competency at the game that it was, in fact, skill-based. 

Writers and directors Austin and Meredith Bragg said: "Joel and Crystal bring so much remarkable talent and warmth to the project. We’re thrilled to have them on board to bring Roger’s story to the screen."

The publication reports that production on the project will begin in October. 

If they don't use 'Pinball Wizard' by The Who in the film, or at least the trailers, then we wouldn't be angry, just disappointed.

Meanwhile, the third and final Kissing Booth movie will be releasing on Netflix on August 11, which is less than two weeks away. Time to start catching up if you want to be there for the big finale.

From Looper : “ Bloopers that Make Us Love The Kissing Booth Even More ”

The cast of The Kissing Booth films give us plenty of joy when they're on screen, bringing Beth Reekles' book characters to life. But there's even more to adore during their candid moments on the set. Joey King and Joel Courtney, for example, are just as close in real life as the films' besties Elle and Lee, and they definitely spent their downtime getting just as goofy and dance-happy as their character counterparts. They also played lots of pranks on each other and created all-new routines on-set between takes — and they're hardly the only stars who've shared some major laughs while making these movies.

Behind-the-scenes footage from the films show just how much fun all of the actors had while working together, and even their biggest mess-up moments are a treat to watch. With The Kissing Booth 3 on the way soon, let's take a look back at the bloopers that make us love The Kissing Booth films even more.

Halloween Hijinks

While the cast of The Kissing Booth had to be pretty coordinated to pull off all of those epic video game dances and nimble sports maneuvers, they were still a bit clumsy from time to time. In fact, as Joey King's behind-the-scenes video from production shows, it took all of one day of shooting on the first film for Joel Courtney to earn a few stitches on his chin. But it was King who turned out to be the biggest klutz of the cast.

In one hilarious blooper from the film's credits sequence, we see King as Elle, strolling out in her goofy pirate costume on Halloween — only, instead of presenting her sword gracefully so the camera can pan over to Courtney in his Black Swan getup as we saw in the full film's scene, this time she walks the proverbial plank and takes a major tumble. To be fair to the actress, her balance may have been affected by that oversized hat. But history repeated itself again and again in the bloopers from the set of the sequel, when she took an unexpected slide in the costume shop and even managed to fall while fully seated in another clip. Somehow, despite her apparent propensity to slip and slide around the set, her Dance Mania skills still prove she was quite quick on her feet when she had to be. Well, mostly.

The MVPs

Speaking of the actors' strengths on the dance floor, King, Courtney, and The Kissing Booth 2's Taylor Zakhar Perez, who played Marco, all managed to make it look easy as their characters practiced for weeks and weeks to steadily improve their accuracy and creativity ahead of the big competition. However, there were certainly some moments when these stars didn't quite stick the landing, as the credits reel bloopers from their many dance session slips show. King was especially inclined to lose her bearings, from the looks of these bloopers.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the preparation that went into making all of those moves work on camera was echoed in the grueling rehearsals that the actors had to do during production. Perez shared some candid footage of his so-called "best" rehearsal day with King in the arcade and an overhead glimpse of the two filming their final rehearsal before the big day. And though it seemed like Elle and Marco could never ever tire as they geared up to win it all, King let it be known to her co-star and the film's crew that it was, indeed, very "hard' to pull off all those moves for hours on end. And even then she still had a major fall while filming that prize-winning showcase scene.

The endless burger

While we're on the subject of suffering for art, King also offered an all-new perspective on a very memorable scene from the first movie that'll totally change how you see it when you rewatch. Shortly after the first film's premiere in May 2018, King revealed her own vantage point from the scene when Elle and Lee are lounging on the soccer field, sharing a burger, and talking about what to expect from her first date with Tuppen (Joshua Daniel Eady). Apparently, King snuck her own phone onto the set that day and captured what it was really like for her and Courtney to scarf down so many sandwiches. In addition to showing that it was a full-on giggle fest for the two actors between takes, she also let fans know that she got "so full" that she actually lost her lunch while shooting her soccer practice scene shortly thereafter.

Of course, that wasn't the only burger-related bit that King dealt with during the making of these movies. While filming the second film's scene with Elle playing Ms. Pac-Man at the arcade while Lee slips her some bites of their shared snack, one blooper shows King accidentally biting off more than she can chew. In fact, an entire tomato slice ends up dangling from her lip in the footage. If that weren't funny enough, the sad sound effects in the background prove that her mishap also meant she got caught by the ghosts in the game at the exact same time.

The brauns gone wrong

Last but not least, even though Jacob Elordi and Taylor Zakhar Perez have stolen millions of fans' hearts as the unshakable hunky heartthrobs Noah Flynn and Marco Peña in The Kissing Booth series, even these ultra-suave actors have had their fair share of awkward moments on set.

The credits bloopers for The Kissing Booth 2, for example, show Elordi letting his carefully crafted cool guy demeanor slip just a smidge when it comes to a passing cyclist scaring the daylights out of him during a motorcycle ride scene. Elordi also shows off a sentimental side in another blooper from the pic in which he accidentally interrupts filming by playing a musical slideshow to get into his "emotions” during the airport scene. And additional footage from the film's credits also reveal just how goofy he can get with his many funny faces and one charming John Travolta impression that unexpectedly comes into play in a scene-gone-wrong.

Meanwhile, Perez's outtakes prove that even a guy as collected and self-assured as him has some flubs now and again, including a moment in which he adds way too much weight to his gym machine and another in which he continues to stumble over a word so simple as "freestyle."

As the third installment to The Kissing Booth series draws ever nearer to bringing this heartwarming movie series to its conclusion, at least we know there'll still be outtakes, blooper reels, and behind-the-scenes cast footage to enjoy for years to come.

From TV Insider : “ Tough Choices Lie Ahead in ‘The Kissing Booth 3’ Trailer (VIDEO) ”

Netflix has dropped the trailer for its upcoming feature, The Kissing Booth 3, the final installment of the young adult romance trilogy. The movie lands on the streamer on August 11.

As can be seen in the trailer (watch below), it’s the last summer before college, and Elle (Joey King) and her friends are making the most of it at her family’s swanky beach house. But Elle has a tough decision to make. Does she go to Harvard and move across the country with her boyfriend Noah (Jacob Elordi), or fulfill her lifelong promise to go to college (at UC Berkeley) with her best friend Lee (Joel Courtney)?

The film was written by the franchise’s director Vince Marcello and his co-collaborator Jay Arnold and based on the popular series of books by Beth Reekles. The young author self-published the first novel on Wattpad in 2010 when she was 15, and it accumulated almost 20 million reads before it was published by Random House Children’s Books in 2012.

Netflix released the first Kissing Booth in 2018, where it became the streamer’s most re-watched film of the year. The sequel came out last July and more than 66 million households worldwide watched within the first 28 days of release, making it one of Netflix’s biggest successes of 2020. Marcello shot the final movie alongside the second film.

Several original cast members are back alongside King, Elordi and Courtney, including Taylor Zakhar Perez (Embeds), Maisie Richardson-Sellers (Legends of Tomorrow), Meganne Young (Supernatural) and Molly Ringwald (Riverdale).

Last year, King spoke to Rolling Stone about the time she first read the script for the original film. “[It] made me feel all those awesome feelings that you get when you watch it — all those teen angsty, rom-com-y, beautiful, upsetting, sad, happy emotions,” she said. “I had a FaceTime meeting with our director Vince Marcello and we just had the best, hour-long conversation about how much I want to do this movie. And then we made that s**t and it was awesome.”

The Kissing Booth 3, August 11, Netflix

From Rolling Stone : “ Joey King Heads to College in ‘The Kissing Booth 3’ Trailer ”

Netflix has released a trailer for its upcoming film, The Kissing Booth 3, which will wrap up the teen romance trilogy. The movie will debut on Netflix on August 11th.

In the dramatic clip, Joey King’s Elle is back and faced with a big decision about where to go to college. She can move across the country with her boyfriend Noah (Jacob Elordi) or fulfill her promise of going to college with her BFF Lee (Joel Courtney). The film, directed by Vince Marcello, also stars Molly Ringwald.

The series of popular films is based on a trio of self-published novels by Beth Reekles, which follow high school student Elle Evans, who is forced to confront her secret crush at a kissing booth.

Last year, King joined Rolling Stone to discuss The Kissing Booth 2, as well as her first time reading the script for the original film.

“Reading the script made me feel all those awesome feelings that you get when you watch it — all those teen angsty, rom-com-y, beautiful, upsetting, sad, happy emotions,” she said. “I had a FaceTime meeting with our director Vince Marcello and we just had the best, hour-long conversation about how much I want to do this movie. And then we made that shit and it was awesome.”

It’s the summer before Elle heads to college, and she’s facing the hardest decision of her life: whether to move across the country with her dreamy boyfriend Noah or fulfill her lifelong promise to go to college with her BFF Lee. Whose heart will Elle break as The Kissing Booth trilogy comes to an end?

Grab your popcorn and a box of tissues -- The Kissing Booth 3 is on its way to bring an end to the saga. Fans of the hit film series will finally know what's in store for Elle, Noah, Lee, and all the other beloved characters in The Kissing Booth movies. With one last summer together before they all head off to college, the gang takes over the Flynns' beach house. But it's not all a party. Elle will have to make some big decisions -- not just about the men in her life, but also about following her own heart. Packed with all the fun, heartbreak, and incredible characters you've come to expect from the Kissing Booth films, The Kissing Booth 3 will be an emotional ride to the end of this particular journey. Here's everything you need to know about The Kissing Booth before it arrives.

From Pop Sugar : “ Elle Evans Is Forced to Break Some Hearts in the New The Kissing Booth 3 Trailer ”

Goodbyes are often bittersweet, and Elle Evans (Joey King) has a lot to do before she's ready to say farewell to her friends in The Kissing Booth 3 trailer — a whole bucket list to complete, to be exact. The summer before she's set to head off to college, Elle is faced with the hardest decision she's ever made: fulfill her lifelong promise to go to college with her best friend Lee (Joel Courtney) or move across the country to be with her boyfriend Noah (Jacob Elordi). Either way, she only has a few months before she has to decide whose heart to break, and they're not making it easy for her. "Maybe your choices have more to do with what other people want," says Noah's mom Mrs. Flynn (Molly Ringwald). "Maybe it's time to think about what you want."

During their last summer before college, Elle and Lee set out to take on a massive bucket list fit for the season, complete with a massive neon pool party at the Flynn family beach house, base jumping, sky diving, rock climbing, flash dances, and life-size sandcastles. Caught up in choosing between Lee and Noah and enjoying what's left of her summer, Elle finds solace in confiding in Marco (Taylor Zakhar Perez), who helps her realize that "people pass through our lives. Some of them fade into memories, but a few become part of who you are."