CLOSE Morgan Neville ("20 Feet From Stardom") delves into "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" in his documentary "Won't You Be My Neighbor?"
Fred Rogers on the set of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." (Photo: ROBERT DEUTSCH, USA TODAY)
There is no better day to return to Mr. Rogers' neighborhood than his 90th birthday.
The upcoming documentary Won't You Be My Neighbor? revealed a new trailer for the occasion. Academy Award-winning director Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom) takes an intimate look at the lessons and legacy of Fred Rogers, the beloved children's television host.
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood celebrated its 50th anniversary last month.
The documentary, out June 8, is described by filmmakers as "an emotional and moving film that takes you beyond zip-up cardigans and the land of make-believe, and into the heart of a creative genius, who inspired generations of children with compassion and limitless imagination."
More: 5 ways to celebrate 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood' on its 50th anniversary
Also: I admired Mr. Rogers as a mentor from afar — now I'm walking in his sneakers.
The trailer shows how the warm Mr. Rogers' personality made his show an unlikely classic for the ages.
How? "Love is at the root of everything," Rogers says in answer in the clip.
This should hold fans over until Tom Hanks can appear onscreen as Fred Rogers in You Are My Friend, which was announced in January.
There's also the live-streaming platform Twitch, which has teamed up with PBS to celebrate Fred Rogers’ 90th birthday by airing 90 of the most popular episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, starting March 20th (10 a.m. PT), followed by a complete run of the show’s 856 episodes.
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Photo: The Fred Rogers Company (Focus Features)
Today saw a bountiful harvest of trailers dropping onto YouTube like so many overripe fruits, with delights including a new documentary on the living saint that was Fred Rogers, another on a real-life exorcist from The Exorcist director William Friedkin, a clue to the whereabouts of Hawkeye (he’s been busy playing an adult game of Tag), and a new trailer for Sicario followup Soldado.
Pour yourself a refreshing beverage, put in your headphones, and enjoy these bite-sized looks at upcoming films in a little experiment we’re calling Trailer Happy Hour.
After its debut at SXSW, this morning Focus Features debuted the first trailer for its Fred Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? on what would have been Rogers’ 90th birthday. This one’s set to debut in theaters on June 8.
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Also debuting today is the trailer for William Friedkin’s The Devil And Father Amorth. Not content to simply shape our collective cinematic nightmares with The Exorcist, this documentary sees Friedkin shadowing Father Gabriele Amorth, official exorcist of the Diocese of Rome, as he goes about his supernatural business, including a demonic “house call.” Based on the trailer, it looks like Friedkin is going for a more Michael Moore/Morgan Spurlock approach to documentary, centering himself as a character in the film. The Devil And Father Amorth is due out on April 20.
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Never say that Jeremy Renner isn’t devoted to his fans. Renner (we’re assuming) skipped the Avengers: Infinity War trailer shoot to introduce the trailer for his upcoming movie Tag, the newest in the “what if innocuous activity, but violent and with swears?” subgenre of contemporary ensemble comedies based on a 2013 Wall Street Journal story. Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Buress, Jon Hamm, Rashida Jones, Isla Fisher, Annabelle Wallis, and Leslie Bibb co-star in the film, due out June 15.
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Finally, we’ve got a new trailer for Sicario: Day Of The Soldado, filling in just a little bit of backstory for Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin’s ruthless assassin characters introduced in the first Soldado trailer back in December. Italian TV director Stefano Sollima takes over for Denis Villeneuve for this sequel, due out June 29.
A new trailer for the forthcoming Mr. Rogers documentary, Won't You Be My Neighbor, examines the radical vision that informed one of the most beloved children's television programs of all time.
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The clip teases the myriad ways Fred Rogers tweaked television conventions on his long-running PBS show, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, whether he was using simple sets and low production values or holding frank discussion with kids about issues like divorce and death.
Actor and singer François Clemmons – who played Officer Clemmons on the show – recalled one remarkable 1969 episode where Rogers took a stand against segregation simply by having the two of them soak their feet together in a kiddie pool. "My being on the program was a statement for Fred," Clemmons says.
The trailer is also packed with old clips from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, as well as archival behind-the-scenes footage and interviews. "The greatest thing that we can do is to help somebody know that they're loved and capable of loving," Rogers says in one clip.
Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom) directed Won't You Be My Neighbor. The documentary opens in select theaters June 8th.
A first look at 'Won't You Be My Neighbor.' Watch below.
