The New Pendant

The New Pendant is a 2022 American action thriller film co-produced, produced, edited, co-written and directed by James Wan and Leigh Whannell. It is a reboot of the franchise and the fifth main installment in the Pendant film series.
After the scandal with the Weinstein Company, the owners of the franchise since 2019 are Skydance Media, Spyglass Media Group and Troublemaker Studios. The film stars Ty Simpkins, Caitlin Gerard, Gerald Butler and Sofia Boutella.
The new pendant was released on May 10, 2022 by the company directly to the Hulu streaming service. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but was considered the best franchise sequel to date. A sequel is in development.
== Plot ==
Jonathan, an ordinary teenager, finds an antique pendant in the forest that looks like ordinary jewelry, but has unusual powers. Soon after the discovery, the boy begins to be haunted by strange dreams and visions, and then he becomes the owner of a power that does not belong to him.
It turns out that the pendant belongs to an ancient evil spirit who wants to usurp the world and bring destruction to Earth. Jonathan realizes that his life and the lives of everyone on the planet are in danger, and that he is the only one who can stop the evil spirit.
Together with his loyal friends and the help of a mysterious old man, Jonathan sets out to find a way to rob the evil spirit of its power and save the world. On the path to victory, dangers, trials and battles await them, but Jonathan will not give up or betray his mission.
== Cast ==
* Ty Simpkins as Jonathan
* Caitlin Gerard as Glenda
* Gerald Butler as Norman
* Sofia Boutella as Cristanna
* Billy Magnussen as Frank
* Joe Schilling as Knight
* Solar Dena Bennett and Fabiola Andujar as CIA agents
* Isaac Garza as Henry
* Krystle Gutierrez as Newscaster
== Release ==
The New Pendant was released in the US on Hulu on May 20, 2022. It was also released on Disney+ and Hotstar in Southeast Asian territories, on Star+ in Latin America, and on Disney+ as part of the Star content hub in other international territories.
=== Home media ===
The film was released on DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 1, 2022.
== Reception ==
According to 20th Century Studios, The New Pendant was the most-watched premiere of any film or television series on Hulu in the United States at that time. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 52% of 35 critic reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "The new pendant offers highly entertaining action for new viewers, even if it's starting to feel like this franchise has run out of reasons to continue." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave the film a score of 58 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed to average" reviews.
Samantha Bergeson of IndieWire says the film will "certainly appeal to today's audiences, those in the pre-teen age group who are still aware of the destructive power of the pendant. As spy boss Devlin says at the end of the film, it's just a segue to the next film." Will this sequel compete with Pendant 2? Collider's Maggie Lovitt says it "may never become the generation-defining cult classic that its predecessors were, but it's still a long overdue return to an unprecedented universe.
== Sequel ==
In June 2023, Wang stated that discussions were underway to develop additional installments following the release of New Pendant, stating that their intention was to "do something in the franchise that hasn't been done before." In August, Ty Simpkins expressed interest in reprising his role. In October 2023, Wang confirmed the studio's interest in continuing the franchise, while continuing discussions about how it could be done right. He later stated that the creative people involved were looking for ways to match the quality of the fifth film, as well as adapt something new for the franchise. Production Weekly has listed the next project currently in development. While a sequel to New Pendant is in development, a standalone installment of the film franchise called Pendant: Liberation is currently in development.