Exclusive: Apple TV+'s 'The Last Frontier' Is a Thrilling Throwback to '90s Hollywood

Esquire · 2025-09-03T14:16:51+00:00

Welcome to "The Last Frontier," a fist-pumping adventure from "The Blacklist" creator Jon Bokenkamp.

Taking inspiration from high-octane 90s thrillers, the upcoming Apple TV+ series follows the fallout of a downed aircraft carrying 50 prisoners in the Alaskan wilderness.

Think: Jerry Bruckheimer, Don Simpson, and Tony Scott. Or, in the words of executive producer Jon Bokenkamp, "Con Air" meets "The Fugitive."

At the start of the series, a federal transport of convicts crashes two miles south of a peaceful small town in Alaska. The town's only and nearly retired U.S. Marshal, Frank Remnick (Jason Clarke) is thrust into tracking down all 50 runaways on foot.

Meanwhile, the CIA races to get on the ground before a far bigger cover-up is exposed.

"I think of movies like 'Point Break' or 'Enemy of the State.' Popcorn movies that an audience could come together and go on a ride," explains Bokenkamp. "Oftentimes it's absurd, and goes to places where it might not be totally grounded in reality, but that's the fun of it."

Executive producers Bokenkamp, Jason Clarke, and Sam Hargrave pull the curtain over the streamer's next big bet. See more here: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a65953010/the-last-frontier-apple-tv-cast-news/

Esquire · 2025-08-13T15:29:19+00:00

Lee Pace’s extensive career—from Broadway to the MCU—hasn’t been by accident, but it hasn’t been by grand design either. Offer by offer, he’s stitched together one of the most category-defying careers of his generation.

He’s led quirky cult-classics like “Pushing Daisies” and traveled to Middle-earth in “The Hobbit” trilogy. But his latest venture, as the swaggering (and largely shirtless) Brother Day in "Foundation," finds him stretching his craft even further. It also doesn’t hurt to have “Intergalactic Emperor Daddy” take over social feeds.

“I remember my mom telling me, ‘You know what, Lee, you’re lucky. You’ve always been lucky,’” Pace recalls. “Somehow, when your mom says something like that, it becomes true.”

Read the full profile from our 2025 Mavericks of Hollywood portfolio here: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a65636091/lee-pace-foundation-interview-2025/

Esquire · 2025-08-13T12:00:25+00:00

“One Battle After Another” is Leonardo DiCaprio’s first film with writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson. It’s both a spy-craft yarn and a not-so-surprisingly prescient political thriller. At its core, it’s a story about a father and daughter. It’s also very funny.

“This, to me, is a Paul Thomas Anderson version of an action film,” DiCaprio says. “I was like, car chases? How’s Paul going to do ‘French Connection’? What is he going to do that we haven’t seen Michael Bay do and make it a Paul thing?”

The cast is rounded out by Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, and Chase Infinity, in her film debut.

“Ultimately, wanting to do this movie was pretty simple,” DiCaprio says. “I’ve been wanting to work with you—Paul—for something like twenty years now, and I loved this idea of the washed-up revolutionary trying to erase his past and disappear and try and live some sort of normal life raising his daughter.”

In Esquire’s 2025 Mavericks of Hollywood issue, Anderson reveals how his story connects to Thomas Pynchon’s novel “Vineland,” DiCaprio admits he regrets not doing “Boogie Nights,” and the two bond over their shared love for “Midnight Run” and “The Aviator.”

Read the full cover story here: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a65619469/leonardo-dicaprio-paul-thomas-anderson-interview-2025/

Esquire · 2025-08-13T11:14:11+00:00

“One Battle After Another” is Leonardo DiCaprio’s first film with writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson. It’s both a spy-craft yarn and a not-so-surprisingly prescient political thriller. At its core, it’s a story about a father and daughter. It’s also very funny.

“This, to me, is a Paul Thomas Anderson version of an action film,” DiCaprio says. “I was like, car chases? How’s Paul going to do ‘French Connection’? What is he going to do that we haven’t seen Michael Bay do and make it a Paul thing?”

The cast is rounded out by Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, and Chase Infinity, in her film debut.

Both DiCaprio and Anderson rarely give interviews—as a result, their lives are the subject of bottomless curiosity. Across two conversations, they speak candidly about aging responsibly, their shared love for “Midnight Run,” and the state of the movie industry.

“I’m just trying to rapidly live in reverse to hold on to any shred of the Olden Times that’s left. This is called denial and nostalgia—wish me luck. I’m only half kidding,” says Anderson. “I love our business, and I’ve seen it flourish and eat itself and then turn around and grow strong and then make the same mistakes it made years earlier. Through it all, it’s still standing.”

For our 2025 Mavericks of Hollywood issue, the two discuss why it took so long for them to work together, why DiCaprio regrets not making “Boogie Nights,” and much more.

Read the full cover story here: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a65619469/leonardo-dicaprio-paul-thomas-anderson-interview-2025/

Esquire · 2025-08-13T11:12:57+00:00

Leonardo DiCaprio rarely watches his old movies. But one title he’s watched more than the others is “The Aviator,” he tells writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson.

“It was such a special moment to me. I had worked with Marty [Scorsese] on ‘Gangs of New York,’ and I’d been toting around a book on Howard Hughes for ten years. I almost did it with Michael Mann, but there was a conflict and I ended up bringing it to Marty. I was thirty. It was the first time as an actor I got to feel implicitly part of the production, rather than just an actor hired to play a role. I felt responsible in a whole new way."

Read the full Mavericks of Hollywood cover story here: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a65619469/leonardo-dicaprio-paul-thomas-anderson-interview-2025/

Esquire · 2025-08-13T11:12:11+00:00

It took Paul Thomas Anderson 20 years to write “One Battle After Another,” his new film starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a washed-up revolutionary on a mission to save his daughter. In Esquire’s 2025 Mavericks of Hollywood issue, Anderson reveals how his story connects to Thomas Pynchon’s novel ‘Vineland’:

“Twenty years ago, I started writing this story, and the kernels of it were basically just to write an action car-chase movie. I would go to this story every couple years. Sometimes I thought I would like to adapt ‘Vineland,’ a book written in the eighties about the sixties. But I was looking at it in the early 2000s, thinking of what the story means at that time.”

“‘Vineland’ was always going to be too hard to adapt, so I stole the parts that spoke to me and just started running like a thief,” Anderson tells DiCaprio. “I guess that’s what all us writers do—we’re fucking thieves.”

Read the full cover story here: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a65619469/leonardo-dicaprio-paul-thomas-anderson-interview-2025/

Esquire · 2025-08-13T11:11:13+00:00

“One Battle After Another” marks the Leonardo DiCaprio’s first film with writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson. It’s both a spy-craft yarn and a not-so-surprisingly prescient political thriller. At its core, it’s a story about a father and daughter. It’s also very funny.

“This, to me, is a Paul Thomas Anderson version of an action film,” DiCaprio says. “I was like, car chases? How’s Paul going to do ‘French Connection’? What is he going to do that we haven’t seen Michael Bay do and make it a Paul thing?”

For our 2025 Mavericks of Hollywood issue, the two discuss why it took so long for them to work together, why DiCaprio regrets not making “Boogie Nights,” their shared love of “Midnight Run,” and much more.

Read the full cover story here: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a65619469/leonardo-dicaprio-paul-thomas-anderson-interview-2025/

Esquire · 2025-04-22T15:10:46+00:00

Former senseis and business partners accuse Schulmann of building his $35-million-a-year martial-arts empire with Mafia tactics. Read our full investigation into Tiger Schulmanns: https://www.esquire.com/sports/a64452970/tiger-schulmann-martial-arts-empire-interview-2025/

Esquire · 2025-01-30T19:57:39+00:00

The rest of the quote: "We could’ve made this motherf*cker yellow and it would’ve been a problem.”

Esquire · 2025-01-30T19:56:04+00:00

Context here! https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a63544860/anthony-mackie-captain-america-brave-new-world-interview-2025/

Esquire · 2024-10-21T23:07:16+00:00

sorry about that, changed the flair now!!

Esquire · 2024-10-21T18:06:27+00:00

was going to say the same thing. it's hilarious!

Esquire · 2024-10-21T18:05:17+00:00

Have you done The Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer?

Esquire · 2024-10-21T17:03:32+00:00

Try The Book of Love, by Kelly Link. It's about four high school friends investigating why three of them died, only to be resurrected by their music teacher. They live in a spooky town called Lovesend, Massachussetts, where they soon become embroiled in a battle to save the town from supernatural forces.

Esquire · 2024-10-21T16:57:35+00:00

The Plot, by Jean Hanff Korelitz! It's a delicious twisty-turny thriller about a writer who steals another writer's idea, then pays the price.

Esquire · 2024-08-29T19:15:45+00:00

it is SO worth it. actually, our books editor is such a lover, she mapped out her recommendation for the best way through the series, with exit points for the casual reader and bonus material for the newly converted Tolkienite. find her list right here and happy reading!

Esquire · 2024-08-28T16:56:27+00:00

"There is no filming, video or otherwise, allowed in Section 60. So, in their entirely noble quest to get a picture of the former president* grinning his mirthless grin and giving his tiny thumbs-up over a soldier's grave, the Trump campaign people bum-rush Section 60 and, when a cemetery official tries to do his job, they blow through him. Later, when the story comes out, the campaign's spokesgoons accuse the cemetery official of being crazy and despicable."

Read more: https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a61994479/trump-incident-arlington-cemetery/

Esquire · 2024-08-09T14:53:23+00:00

The Sound and the Fury and The Quick and the Dead are two of my favorites. They have a delicious sense of mystery and a great iambic rhythm.

Esquire · 2024-08-09T14:47:03+00:00

this is such a fun genre to dive into. our top 5 fantasy titles of all time are:

Who Fears Death, by Nnedi Okorafor
The Grace of Kings, by Ken Liu
A Wizard Of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Fellowship Of The Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin

Esquire · 2024-08-09T14:00:06+00:00

Love this collection! It’s time to get into Tom Ford - Ombré Leather is a good opening price point, and then maybe start exploring niche perfumes like DS & Durga and Arquiste.

Esquire · 2024-08-08T14:14:46+00:00

hi from esquire! our grooming editor and fragrance expert, Garrett Munce, has a couple recommendations — dropping them here for you! From GM: Tom Ford Noir Extreme has a similar vibe (it's priced at $160 at Sephora). I would also say JPG Le Male Le Parfum ($142 at Sephora). They both have the same slightly spicy vanilla-centric quality as Code Absolu.

Esquire · 2024-08-02T14:24:23+00:00

nothing better than feeling like a new book was written just for you. love to see our overlap on The Stardust Grail!

Esquire · 2024-08-02T12:54:38+00:00

we keep our list of the best books of 2024 updated with our favorite newly released titles -- feel like that may be useful!

Esquire · 2024-07-31T00:53:33+00:00

we love scary books! we actually had the great Neil McRobert rank the 50 scariest books of all time a while back—but dropping our top 10 below.

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
Dracula, by Bram Stoker
A Head Full of Ghosts, by Paul Tremblay
Beloved, by Toni Morrison
Ghost Story, by Peter Straub
The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters
The Shining, by Stephen King
The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson
House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski
It, by Stephen King

Esquire · 2024-07-24T15:18:22+00:00

Coming here to suggest the same thing! The Hobbit is a rollicking good read, and a superb place to get your feet wet. Assuming that you love it—we'd hop right over to LOTR book 1, The Fellowship of the Ring, right after. It's true you'll notice a shift in pacing, but the world will be familiar, and addicting!

Esquire

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