ReelBlend #66: Our Avengers: Endgame Spoiler-Free Review

ReelBlend #66: Our Avengers: Endgame Spoiler-Free Review

We are down one man this week. And it’s Avengers: Endgame week, of all weeks. So let’s stand up and salute Sean O’Connell and Kevin McCarthy, as these true American heroes showed up to ReelBlend, and review quite possibly the most anticipated movie of our collective lifetimes… without spoiling anything!

That’s right. You guys can listen to ReelBlend episode #66 whether you have seen Avengers: Endgame or not. And by the time you read this, some of you likely have seen Endgame, as the movie is selling out at a record pace.

But Sean and Kevin review the movie without giving away a single detail, so listen away. Not only do you get their reaction to the blockbuster, you will get to hear Kevin’s stories about seeing Avengers: Endgame at the premiere, where he rubbed elbows with Kevin Smith, took a photo with Chris Evans, and got two bear hugs from Thanos himself, Josh Brolin.

Before the guys tackle Endgame this week, they get into the Academy’s decision not to penalize movies that are made by Netflix for Oscar consideration. They also read Steven Spielberg’s statement on the controversy, and give the legendary filmmaker a pass for his opinions.

The guys also play #ScarJoBlend, and avoid picking a Marvel movie when naming their favorite Scarlett Johansson movies!

And yes, Jake Hamilton gets to weigh in on Avengers: Endgame, even though he is on assignment this week. Dig into this week’s episode to hear what Jake thought of the new MCU movie.

ReelBlend is a weekly podcast that we do on CinemaBlend. You can download the latest episode (and all of our past episodes) for FREE on our iTunes page! Visit. Subscribe. Like and comment. Review! Apple loves when you have star ratings and reviews, so if you listened, and you liked it (or even if you didn't), let us know. We also are on Spotify. And Google Play. And basically everywhere that you download podcasts. So download us.

Meanwhile, follow the guys on Social Media! We have an official Twitter feed for the show, so follow @ReelBlend. In addition, follow the guys at @Sean_OConnell, @JakesTakesand @KevinMcCarthyTV.

The Goldfinch Trailer Puts Ansel Elgort Through Emotional Hell

The Goldfinch Trailer Puts Ansel Elgort Through Emotional Hell

After Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch became a literary hit in 2014, which included it winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Andrew Carnegie Medal, it seemed like only a matter of time before a film version would come. Warner Bros swiftly struck a deal shortly after it was published and an adaptation is coming to the big screen this fall, with Baby Driver’s Ansel Elgort, Nicole Kidman and Sarah Paulson leading the drama.

Check out the intriguing and emotional first look at The Goldfinch with its trailer below:

As a good trailer should, this establishes the tone and interest in the movie without giving too much away about what audiences are in for. Ansel Elgort leads The Goldfinch as Theo Decker, a young man haunted by the day his mother was killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City while he was was 13 years old.

The film’s title references the priceless painting the mother and son gaze upon right before the bombing which Theo takes and keeps with him throughout his life journey chronicled in the film.

The Goldfinch trailer flashes between Theo’s past and present, carefully unraveling his personal tragedy and how it alters his life. He comes across various characters, including a childhood friend named Boris, played by Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard as a kid and replaced by Dunkirk’s Aneurin Barnard as they grow older.

The cast also includes Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Barbour, who is his caretaker for sometime, along with Luke Wilson, who plays his problematic dad who has a girlfriend named Xandra (Sarah Paulson). Westworld’s Jeffrey Wright appears as Hobie, an unlikely friend to Theo during his time of loss.

Along with The Goldfinch having an impressive cast, behind the scenes is John Crowley as director, who previously helmed the Oscar-nominated drama Brooklyn. The script was written by Peter Straughan, whose other credits include Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Frank and The Snowman. The movie was also produced by Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson, who worked on Crazy Rich Asians, American Crime Story and Ben is Back together.

The Goldfinch novel was over 700 pages long, so the movie is tackling a ton of material for one film. It was previously considered for a miniseries, but the project ultimately landed with Warner Bros and Amazon Studios.

The Goldfinch certainly looks to showcase an especially good performance for Ansel Elgort, who broke out in 2014 with his Fault in Our Stars and Divergent roles. The 25-year-old actor will also star in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake coming in December 2020.

The drama is opening alongside crime comedy Hustlers, starring Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles and Lili Reinhart, about a group of former strippers who band together to steal from their Wall Street clients on September 13. Both films will go up against IT Chapter 2’s second weekend at the box office.

Are you excited to see The Goldfinch? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Avengers: Endgame's Metacritic Score Is Lower Than You'd Think

Avengers: Endgame's Metacritic Score Is Lower Than You'd Think

Part of the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that it consistently churns out blockbusters that are enjoyed by both audiences and critics alike and this weekend’s Avengers: Endgame looks to be no different. While we won’t know what audiences think until it opens tonight, the film currently enjoys a great certified fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating that the large majority of critics gave it a positive review. On Metacritic however, Avengers: Endgame’s score is lower than you’d think.

Avengers: Endgame currently has a score of 78 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 47 reviews of the film. That indicates that those 47 reviews of Avengers: Endgame incorporated into the Metascore were generally favorable. However, “Generally favorable” and a C+ level score are a bit lower than you might expect for this movie. It didn’t even attain Metacritic’s “Must-See” award designation.

At a glance this certainly seems too low, especially given some of the positively gushing reviews out there. So what gives?

First, it is important to understand how Metacritic comes up with its score. Many people misunderstand what Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer percentage actually represents, but Metacritic’s Metascore can be even more difficult to interpret. Metacritic curates reviews from only select critics, and not all reviewer’s opinions about a film are weighted equally. And reviews that don’t come with a numerical or letter grade score to translate are assigned one from Metacritic based on the reviewer’s qualitative opinion of the film.

For Avengers: Endgame, of those 47 reviews, only one is negative, two are mixed and the rest are positive. But not all of those positive reviews were 100 scores so Endgame ended up at a “generally favorable” 78. To put that into perspective, some movies in the past year or so that scored higher than Endgame and earned the “Must-See” designation are Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Mission: Impossible Fallout and A Quiet Place.

It might not be what you’d expect for Avengers: Endgame or what you think it deserves, but the film’s Metascore is actually pretty high in relation to the rest of its MCU stable mates. In fact, the only MCU movies with higher scores on Metacritic are Iron Man with a 79 and last year’s Black Panther with an 88. For the most part the MCU films are between 60-75 with Thor: The Dark World taking last place with a 54.

So while Avengers: Endgame’s Metacritic score is lower than you’d think it would be, it is still pretty good. Ultimately, professional reviews and sites like Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes are tools you can use to make informed decisions about what movies are worth your money as a consumer. But something tells me just about everyone decided they would be seeing Avengers: Endgame long ago.

Avengers: Endgame arrives in theaters this weekend. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all our coverage of the film and check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see what’s headed your way as we enter the summer movie season.

Rocky IV's Final Fight Apparently Had An Entirely Separate Script

Rocky IV's Final Fight Apparently Had An Entirely Separate Script

While Rocky IV may not be the greatest of Rocky movies, it's a film that a lot of people are fans of. The cold war battle between Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago was an iconic moment for the Rocky franchise. Part of the reason the film may be so well remembered may be because Sylvester Stallone apparently put an amazing amount of effort into the final boxing match. According to co-star Dolph Lundgren, Sly had the entire fight scene, and its music, worked out in advance...

When I showed up to start training with Sly for Rocky IV, he handed me a script. And it wasn't a script of the movie, it was a script of the fight. It was about 30 pages of just, 'Round 1, Left, Left, Left, Left, Right, Right, Left Hook,' and I had to memorize that on the page. And, he had the music already written for the fight, so we kind of choreographed the fight to the music. So, it was quite clever the way he did that

Fight scenes can be difficult sequences to film and for something like a boxing movie, where the final fight sequence is the culmination of the entire story, they're all the more important. It seems that in order to be sure that the Rocky IV fight scene worked as well as it could, Sylvester Stallone choreographed the entire thing before hand. Every punch, every step, even how those punches and steps woulds work to the music that was going to play. Because it's not a Rocky movie without a solid montage.

A separate 30 page script just to lay out the fight scene is sort of insane, but that what Dolph Lundgren says he received in one of the special features attached to Creed II. There's attention to detail and then there's whatever that is. At the same time, there's little argument that it didn't work. The final fight between Drago and Rocky feels incredibly epic and in a franchise that has a lot of great fight sequences, the one in Rocky IV may be the best. If you don't believe me, check it out.

If there's one thing that the Rocky movies were always great at, it was putting some great music up along with the matches. The music waits a few minutes for the audience to get invested in the fight, then comes in and makes the battle feel that much bigger. It's easy to assume the music was written to match the fight, and that's true, but the music wasn't created after the fight was over. The actors could actually time their swings to match the fight.

Rocky IV was a huge part of the franchise, so big that it brought Dolph Lundgren back for Creed II which you can find on Blu-ray and Digital HD now.

6 Things The Sonic The Hedgehog Movie Needs To Include From The Video Games

6 Things The Sonic The Hedgehog Movie Needs To Include From The Video Games

Sega’s mascot Sonic The Hedgehog is finally getting his own movie, and it’s safe to say there are quite a few folks worried about it. Granted, it sounds like things are on the right track with Ben Schwartz voicing Sonic and Jim Carrey portraying Dr. Robotnik, but it takes more than great casting to make a good video game movie. If it didn’t, Doom may be remembered as a masterpiece, and it’s almost universally not.

So what makes a great video game movie? There’s no explicit formula, but it’s fair to say sticking to the source material more often than not will make people happy. That’s a bit complicated considering the Sonic franchise has changed quite a bit since its first game, and not always in ways consumers have appreciated. In spite of that, should the movie contain these types of references to the franchise, Sonic The Hedgehog fans will be satisfied.

Music From The Sega Genesis Era

The early Sonic The Hedgehog games feature some of the best videogame music of the '90s. Green Hill Zone, Emerald Hill Zone, basically all the "Zones" from the first and second games have iconic songs the movie should include. Whether it’s a phone ringtone, a song on the radio or an orchestral track doesn’t matter. We may get something even better as the prolific Junkie XL could craft quite the homage to Sonic's tracks.

Of all the things the Sonic The Hedgehog movie should include from the video games, this is definitely the most important. It’s fair to assume many ticket holders will show up for the nostalgia factor, and what better way than to hit them with the ear-worms they jammed out to while playing their Sega Genesis and blasting through bottles of Kool-aid Jammers? Did we get older, or was there always never enough juice in those things?

Sonic's Friends

Sonic The Hedgehog may be the most important character of the franchise, but he's not the only one folks love. There's his sidekick Tails, who's been with Sonic since Sonic The Hedgehog 2, and other iconic characters like Knuckles and Amy. That just scratches the surface of this universe really, and doesn't even get into the Chao, Blaze or the gun-wielding anti-hero Shadow The Hedgehog. If Shadow doesn't get introduced, how can we have a gritty spin off?

I kid, mainly, although it will be a bit weird if Sonic The Hedgehog only has Sonic as the sole speedy thing rushing around. So far, there's been no mention of any other of Sonic's friends, so this may just be a solo adventure where friends could come into the picture in latter installments. Or, this could be a case where the film pulls a Super Mario Bros. and make bastardizations of the iconic characters. We just don't know yet!

Smart-Ass Dialogue

Sonic didn't speak in his first set of video game adventures, but his television show and games that followed have made him out to be a bit of a smart-ass. Not so much that he's some massive douchebag, but kind of in a way that feels very reminiscent of Bart Simpson. If Sonic The Hedgehog wants to stay true to Sonic's character, there needs to be some overconfidence and smart-ass behavior incorporated.

It appears there will be some of that, at least if one interprets comments by Jim Carrey about the film that way. He assured there will be some edgy moments that appeal to all audiences, although was speaking primarily to his character. He also mentioned the family group the movie is catered to, which speaks to the PG rating. Honestly, that's a good wheelhouse for the character, and he can have that "edge" without it being too cringe-inducing.

Massive And Elaborate Robots

Dr. Ivo Robotnik is known for robots and fights Sonic with them throughout the franchise. The creations he pilots may not be the best quality, but they're certainly big, elaborate and fun to look at. Typically Sonic can destroy these with a handful of jumps, or via some weak spot on the robot. He has the design methods of Star Wars: Rogue One's Galen Erso, except he's not secretly wishing Sonic destroys his evil machines.

The ideal creation is some robot that has Robotnik chilling in a glass dome and some form of retractable drills. Robotnik really loves the massive drills, almost as much as he loves loading up every machine with an escape pod that always keeps him out of Sonic's clutches once the fight is over. If one mega robot shows up with either or both of these attributes, I know I'll be a happy camper.

Gold Rings

Gold rings are perhaps the only thing as synonymous with Sonic The Hedgehog than the character himself. They're the game's form of health, and Sonic collects them throughout levels in order to stay alive after being hit. Should he be hit without any rings on him, he loses a life. Will Sonic The Hedgehog pay homage to this vital game mechanic in some way?

If it does, I'm reasonably certain it won't be shown in a way in which Sonic is collecting a bunch of rings randomly floating around. Perhaps rings are the currency of this world, and we'll see them in some micro form being exchanged for goods. If that were the case, it'd be cool to see Sonic obsessively collect these and then lose them all when he takes a big hit.

Cute And Furry Animals

The casual video gamer may not have known or cared why there were so many cute and furry little animals locked away at the end of each classic Sonic The Hedgehog game, but knowing why explains a lot of the tension between Sonic and Dr. Robotnik. Dr. Robotnik uses the little animals to fuel his robots he creates, which is why they also pop out of enemies when Sonic smashes them.

We have no idea of whether or not that plot thread will be used in Sonic The Hedgehog, but it would be the traditional way to establish Dr. Robotnik as a villain in the movie. After all, who is going to side with a guy enslaving adorable animals within machines for energy? It's actually way more twisted than the games led on the longer one thinks about it, so hopefully the movie uses this plot point in some way.

Sonic The Hedgehog is due to release Friday, November 8. Those interested in the movie can feel free to share their suggestions for what should be in the movie below, or chime in on how they think this movie will be received by audiences.

Pirates Of The Caribbean Fans Petition For Johnny Depp's Return

Pirates Of The Caribbean Fans Petition For Johnny Depp's Return

The world has gone petition mad lately, but the point just seems to be like-minded people gathering to join their voices in one loud chorus: We want THIS. Now thousands of Pirates of the Caribbean fans have joined their voices for the reinstatement of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow.

Game of Thrones fans shook the ground with their viral petition, saying they want (but won't get) a new final Season 8. Robert Pattinson critics want (but won't get) a different Batman. Star Wars fans want (but won't get) new filmmakers, but they can't agree on which filmmakers because that fandom is a whole other galaxy of mess.

Will these petitions go anywhere? Probably not. Or if they are successful -- like the one for James Gunn -- it probably wouldn't be due to a Change.org petition. For every petitioner, there's probably someone who disagrees, they just don't need a petition to make the point because they are likely already getting their way.

There are petitions out there for almost anything, and more than one for Johnny Depp to return to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise -- which has stalled out after the fifth movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and whatever is or is not now happening with the reboot.

Bounding Into Comics recently found a couple of Change.org petitions in Johnny Depp's favor, including one that kept things simple with "KEEP JOHNNY DEPP AS JACK SPARROW!!!!" That one has more than 13,400 signatures as of June 1. There's also another petition with a longer message on why Depp should return; that one has under 5,000 signatures at this point.

In terms of the Johnny Depp petitions, there are conflicting reports about what happened in Depp's marriage to Amber Heard. That may not sound like it should be relevant, but it might be. His legal team claims Heard's op-ed piece alleging abuse cost Depp his job as Captain Jack Sparrow. Disney hasn't officially said anything about Pirates of the Caribbean 6, with or without Depp, the whole franchise just seems to be in limbo after the relative disappointment of Dead Men Tell No Tales.

The petitions don't openly take sides in the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard battle that is still playing out through multiple lawsuits, although one of the petitions does note "personal issues" as a reason for Depp appearing to be out as Jack Sparrow. The petitions just note that they can't imagine anyone else leading the franchise, threatening "They have to bring him back to rule the seas again or we will never watch any Pirates of the Caribbean movie without our Captain."

Pirates of the Caribbean is a hugely lucrative franchise for Disney, and it's amazing to think this all started with the theme park ride. (Speaking of theme parks, apparently Jack Sparrow was key to building Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge too.) Johnny Depp was quite rightly given a lot of credit for the franchise's success, but it's very expensive to make the movies and the last one didn't seem to please too many people. It only came out two years ago in 2017, so it's understandable if everyone just wants a break. Besides, Johnny Depp still has the Fantastic Beasts franchise (as far as we know) and smaller films like Minamata.

Where would you like to see the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise go from here, with or without Johnny Depp? A sixth movie? A reboot? Should it die off? Just take a long break?

Will Goose The Cat Be In Avengers: Endgame? Captain Marvel Hero Is Everywhere Else

Will Goose The Cat Be In Avengers: Endgame? Captain Marvel Hero Is Everywhere Else

We have tons of burning questions in anticipation of Avengers: Endgame next month, but an unexpected one has recently been considered by fans of the MCU. Will Captain Marvel scene-stealer Goose the cat make a comeback in the upcoming film? The adorable Flerken did prove himself to have a "high threat level" in the recent release, and the universe could probably use all the help it can get after Thanos' snap.

Goose was already stealing hearts prior to the Captain Marvel release, as he showed his star power on massive character posters in movie theaters and billboards just about everywhere. Since the movie opened, the Flerken has been the talk of the film and Twitter town too, as the character received infectious smiles and "awws" during showings.

Goose turned out to be quite important to Captain Marvel as well. SPOILER ALERT Not only is the Flerken feline responsible for Nick Fury donning his iconic eyepatch in the future, but Goose also kept the Tesseract safe from harm in his mouth in the final act of the movie, before coughing it up on Fury’s desk during the end credits scene.

Goose has led fans to place the cat in Endgame themselves. Take a look at this marvelous piece of Photoshop work from Twitter user @andyvenom which has gone viral:

There he is looking cute as ever, replacing all the faces of the Avengers stars in the most recent Endgame poster. Cats have quite the track record of playing well on the internet, so Goose being the star of memes following his introduction to the MCU isn't too surprising. But following Nick Fury's hilarious eye reveal, fans aren’t discounting the Flerken’s potential impact in Endgame if he does return.

Will he take on Thanos in Endgame? Maybe…. Here’s an idea from Twitter user @209Andres_:

This is some startling evidence, Marvel fans. Could it be? Do Thanos and Goose have a history? It would certainly be hilarious if Marvel decided to give Goose a larger role or backstory like this in the established universe. Since Captain Marvel is set to lead the MCU moving forward, why wouldn’t her Flerken friend also make some big moves? Here’s another gem from Twitter concerning Goose and Endgame:

Marvel Studios is even highlighting Goose in their marketing for the movie, still in theaters. Check it out:

What could be telling is the studio’s decision to use the quote "Goose deserves a franchise." Will they cash in on giving audiences what they are publicizing that the cat deserves? Hopefully the character will at least get a spinoff (animated?) series in the future, perhaps on the upcoming Disney+ streaming service.

Goose is a character from the Captain Marvel comics named Chewie, though the filmmakers decided to change it to feel more distinctly from the ‘90s era. Flerkens can devour prey with their tentacle-like open mouths, which also contain pocket dimensions.

Do you think Goose will have a role in Avengers: Endgame to meet the rest of the team? Tell us in the comments below.

Why Horror Directors Make Great Superhero Films, According To David Sandberg

Why Horror Directors Make Great Superhero Films, According To David Sandberg

There’s a pattern that seems to be forming in the DC Comics film canon, and it’s something that stretches all the way back to Superman: The Movie. As it turns out, some of their biggest ticket directors in the comic realm have backgrounds in horror filmmaking, with Richard Donner and Tim Burton putting in strong efforts in earlier ages, and now Aquaman’s James Wan and Shazam! director David Sandberg getting to continue the precedent in the modern age. All of this builds a case for one pretty awesome conclusion: horror directors are fantastic hires when you want to make a superhero movie.

It’s something that feels right to say after seeing Shazam!, as the mix of superpowered mythos, a heartwarming foster family, and some pretty creepy stuff involving the Seven Deadly Sins all come into frame. While the film is more than likely ok for your kids to see, there’s still some material that might creep them out, as part of the character’s underlying story is the fight of virtue versus evil, with seven figures representing each side of the fight.

While sitting down with CinemaBlend, David F. Sandberg, half of the pair behind the redemption of the Annabelle series with Annabelle: Creation, talked about how the hypothesis of horror directors being particularly adept at the superhero genre could be supported because of the following reason:

Maybe, I mean it takes a lot of work to get horror right. Like a lot of filmmaking skills that all needs to sort of come together. That, I guess, prepares you for other genres as well.

Consider all of the effort that goes into a film like Annabelle: Creation: there’s a lot of effects work, maintenance of the balance of tone and scale, and most importantly, the efforts to make sure the personal story of the characters don’t get lost in the more fantastical pieces of the film’s story. Those are all of the same factors that apply with any comic book movie you can think of.

Spinning all of those plates isn’t easy, and it’s certainly not impossible for a director or writer to pick up on. But if you’re someone like David F. Sandberg, or the many other horror professionals who have jumped from scares to super powers, having experience with the latter helps immensely when you try to tackle the former.

It’s even more amazing when you think about how Sandberg’s previous film, the first sequel in the Annabelle series, operates on a very similar track as Shazam! Both films, at their heart, are tales of orphans who bond through a series of extraordinary events, with one eventually being embued with a special connection to powers greater than themselves. Except while Annabelle: Creation progressed with a more insidious aim at its core and resulted in quite a few fatalities, Shazam! opts for a more friendly and much less scary way of doing things.

Another person who could appreciate the parallels between David F. Sandberg’s theory of why horror directors work particularly well in a superhero project is producer Peter Safran, another teammate from the Annabelle: Creation side of things. Adding some further praise to the efforts that Sandberg had made with Shazam!, Safran said the following:

I think horror filmmakers don’t really get the due that they deserve, in terms of the quality of filmmakers that they actually are. And we’ve found with James Wan, and now with [David F.] Sandberg that these guys can make the jump into the superhero genre really, really well.

Though the deeper historical context of horror directors in the world of superhero films certainly wasn’t lost on David F. Sandberg or Peter Safran, as you’ll be able to see below in the clip from our sitdown at the Shazam! junket.

There’s a lot of moving pieces that go together to make a film like Shazam! work, and thanks to the expertise of Mr. Sandberg, the finished product works as beautifully as it does.

Shazam! is in theaters now. Just say the magic word and use your favorite ticketing app, and you’re there! But if you’ve already seen the film, take a look at our discussion about the end credits scene, and what it means for the series. Also, don’t forget to listen to our ReelBlend interview with Sandberg and Safran, if you’re curious to hear more from the pair. It looks like there’s plenty more fun where this came from.

Universal Studios Hollywood Unveils New Details For Jurassic World: The Ride

Universal Studios Hollywood Unveils New Details For Jurassic World: The Ride

Universal Studios Hollywood opened its Jurassic Park attraction back in 1996. Nearly 25 years is a good long run for an attraction, but the franchise, much like the dinosaurs in the original film, has come back from the dead in recent years thanks to the Jurassic World films. So it was little surprise when we learned last year that Jurassic Park - The Ride was being shut down to make way for a new attraction. Get ready for Jurassic World - The Ride, set to open this summer.

Universal Studios Hollywood today confirmed that Jurassic World - The Ride will open sometime later this summer. No specific date was given but a number of new details about the upcoming refresh to the classic theme park attraction were unveiled. For the most part, those familiar with the classic Jurassic Park ride will likely find the new experience familiar. It will still put guests aboard rafts that will take you through a jungle like environment, inhabited by numerous dinosaurs. However, everything about the specifics of that has been redesigned and re-imagined. Newly created dinosaurs, new scenery and an all new storyline exclusive to the park have been created. The attraction will also boast an all new entrance for the rafts to pass through, including a new Jurassic World logo supported by new stone work pillars topped with flames, just like you see when entering the famous park in the movies. Likely looking something like this...

The new attraction will still sport the major high point of the previous iteration, an 84-foot waterfall drop that will bring guests splashing down to ground level. However, it will be part of an all-new sequence where a Tyrannosaurus Rex goes up against. what's being called one of the attractions "new behemoth dinosaurs." It doesn't say you'll see an Indominous Rex, but it certainly sounds like it.

In addition to the ride itself, the attraction will also include a couple of brand new areas. The Raptor Encounter will allow guests to get face-to-face with Blue and the other raptors from the Jurassic World films. Universal Studios has brought out free roaming "dinosaurs" for guests to interact with in the past and this sounds like a way to add that option permanently to the park. There will also be a Dino Play area that will give kids a chance to hunt for their own dinosaur fossils. Again, this part of the attraction seems to take strong inspiration from a segment of the films.

The new ride was developed by the likes of Industrial Light & Magic as well as franchise producer Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall as well as director Colin Trevorrow. One certainly has to wonder if some bits of ideas from the upcoming Jurassic World 3 might make their way into the attraction.

The original Jurassic Park ride was a lot of fun so seeing it get refreshed for the current franchise, with a lot of new cool stuff to go along with it, looks pretty awesome. While no specific opening date has been given, expect to see it hit as soon as possible in order to bring in as many summer tourists as it can. There's nothing quite like a good splash down for a hot Southern California day, and this should be just what the doctor ordered.

Will Avengers: Endgame Dethrone Avatar As The Highest-Grossing Movie Of All Time?

Will Avengers: Endgame Dethrone Avatar As The Highest-Grossing Movie Of All Time?

We knew Avengers: Endgame would do well. But this well already? Some folks scoffed at the idea of a $800 million worldwide opening weekend. Instead, Endgame scoffed at a $1 billion global opening and did even better than that.

Since Avengers: Endgame opened to a worldwide weekend gross of $1,209,000,000, does it stand a chance of topping Avatar as the highest-grossing movie of all time (not adjusting for inflation)? There's a poll below, after a bunch of number-crunching, so feel free to skip right to your answer if you already have a yes/no prediction ready.

Here are the domestic, foreign, and total box office numbers for Avatar, which came out 10 years ago:

Avatar

Domestic: $760,507,625

Foreign: $2,027,457,462

Worldwide: $2,787,965,087

That worldwide total of $2,787,965,087 is the biggest number to beat. For Endgame. For anyone.

Here are the domestic, foreign, and total box office numbers so far for Avengers: Endgame as of April 28, after first opening in some markets (including China) April 24, and officially in the U.S. on April 26.:

Avengers: Endgame

Domestic: $350,000,000

Foreign: $859,000,000

Worldwide: $1,209,000,000

As you can see for Avatar, it was the foreign box office that really elevated the film to great heights with more than $2 million alone from international markets. Based on Box Office Mojo's numbers, it looks like China gave Avatar its biggest boost with $204,129,854. China has already passed that for Avengers: Endgame in less than a week. But since the movie is already out in China, you can't say we're building up to a big China release. So how much further can it go from here?

There are voices of caution who don't think Avengers: Endgame will pass Avatar. More than doubling this opening weekend will not be an easy feat. And, as some have pointed out, if you look at the current list of the top grossing movies of all time, the top three were all released in December:

1. Avatar (December 18, 2009) - Worldwide: $2,787,965,087

2. Titanic (December 19, 1997) - $2,187,463,944

3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (December 18, 2015) - $2,068,223,624

Is December the magic month? I don't think Avengers: Endgame's April release is going to hurt it too much on that front, but time will tell. The #4 movie of all time is Avengers: Infinity War, which opened last April and just missed the worldwide cut to top Star Wars with its $2,048,359,754 worldwide gross. And yet ... Avatar made $740 million more than that, and that's not nuthin.

After that top four, the top-grossing movies include other spring/summer releases -- Jurassic World, Marvel's The Avengers, Furious 7, and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Then there's Black Panther, which opened in February, formerly considered a box office dead zone, and it made $1.3 billion.

There's a lot of competition heading to the box office this summer, from Godzilla: King of the Monsters to Toy Story 4 and beyond. But I think it's safe to expect Avengers: Endgame to pass $2 billion worldwide, at least, and if that happens it would automatically make it the #5 highest-grossing movie of all time, above Jurassic World.

I do think Endgame will top Avengers: Infinity War's $2,048,359,754 total -- it's as close to an apples to apples comparison as we can get, and there's even more hype for Endgame. Some fans have already seen the movie multiple times, thanks to movie theaters basically running Endgame 24/7, or close enough, to make the coin. It feels like one of the biggest cinematic events of our lives and many people will be honoring that with multiple trips to the theater, perhaps even specifically to help it pass Avatar.

That said, Avengers: Endgame is a bit longer than Infinity War, and that might mean slightly fewer runtimes as we move forward and it dominates fewer screens. After all, Detective Pikachu and John Wick 3 are going to need to play on some screens very soon.

Everyone is throwing numbers around right now, but according to Box Office Mojo's early projections, Avengers: Endgame could make as much as $920 million domestically if it follows the pattern of Infinity War.

Infinity War had a total domestic gross of $678.8 million, so $920M would be much higher. However it would also be just shy of Star Wars: The Force Awakens' current record domestic gross of $936.6 million. Where The Force Awakens lost the overall total game to Avatar was at the foreign box office, since the Star Wars movie "only" made $1.1 billion there. Titanic made $659.3 million at the domestic box office and $1.5 billion worldwide to take second to Avatar. (Pause to marvel once again at James Cameron for his double win.)

CinemaBlend's own Cody Beck decided to quickly crunch the Box Office Mojo numbers for his own projections, and here's what he came up with:

Okay so this is obviously flawed for many reasons, but some quick back of the envelope calculations. Infinity War did 37.96% of its total domestic box office and 27.95% of its total foreign box office in its first 3 days. IF that were to hold true for Endgame, which I understand is different, that would give it a total of $3,995,368,441.69 when all is said and done. Which seems....ridiculous.

Yeah, I don't think we're looking at a $4 billion movie! But you can see how everyone is doing their own calculations and coming up with different projections, based on different metrics. So now it's your turn. Whether you have crunched any numbers or are taking a wild guess, there are two main options -- Endgame will pass Avatar, or it will not. If we were adjusting for inflation, the question might be about Gone with the Wind, but tomorrow is another day on that front. Now vote:

Netflix New Releases: Movies And TV Shows Coming To Netflix Streaming In May 2019

Netflix New Releases: Movies And TV Shows Coming To Netflix Streaming In May 2019

May tends to mark the beginning of the summer movie season under the old tradition of Memorial Day being the first big weekend of that timeframe. With the movie market being what it is today, that old tradition has moved to the beginning of the month, with the end of April looking to steal that honor really soon. But do you know who always seems to be bringing a party to its movie library on a monthly basis? Netflix!

If you want to see what came online in April, you can head over to our official rundown of the titles that were added throughout this past month. But as far as the month of May is concerned, you'll be pleasantly surprised to see some of the big debuts taking place through its 31 days of adventure. Here now is what's coming to Netflix for May of 2019.

Week of May 1

Angels & Demons – 5/1/19

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery – 5/1/19

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me – 5/1/19

Casper – 5/1/19

Chasing Liberty – 5/1/19

Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion Part 1 & 2 – 5/1/19

Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat – 5/1/19

Dumb and Dumber – 5/1/19

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – 5/1/19

Gosford Park – 5/1/19

Gremlins – 5/1/19

Hairspray (1988) – 5/1/19

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay – 5/1/19

Her Only Choice – 5/1/19

Hoosiers – 5/1/19

Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer: Season 2 – 5/1/19

John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky – 5/1/19

Just Friends – 5/1/19

Knock Down The House - NETFLIX FILM – 5/1/19

Munafik 2 - NETFLIX FILM – 5/1/19

Revolutionary Road – 5/1/19

Roswell, New Mexico: Season 1 – 5/1/19

Scarface – 5/1/19

Scream – 5/1/19

Snowpiercer – 5/1/19

Taking Lives – 5/1/19

The Da Vinci Code – 5/1/19

The Dark Crystal (1982) – 5/1/19

The Matrix – 5/1/19

The Matrix Reloaded – 5/1/19

The Matrix Revolutions – 5/1/19

To Rome With Love – 5/1/19

Wedding Crashers – 5/1/19

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – 5/1/19

Zombieland – 5/1/19

Colony: Season 3 – 5/2/19

Olympus Has Fallen – 5/2/19

A Pesar De Todo - NETFLIX FILM – 5/3/19

All In My Family - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/3/19

Alles ist gut - NETFLIX FILM – 5/3/19

Cupcake & Dino - General Services: Season 2 -- NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/3/19

Dead to Me - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/3/19

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile - NETFLIX FILM – 5/3/19

Flinch - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/3/19

Jo Pil-ho: The Dawning Rage - NETFLIX FILM – 5/3/19

The Last Summer - NETFLIX FILM – 5/3/19

Mr. Mom – 5/3/19

Supernatural: Season 14 – 5/3/19

True and the Rainbow Kingdom: Mushroom Town - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/3/19

Tuca & Bertie - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/3/19

Undercover - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/3/19

Like Arrows – 5/4/19

Week of May 5

Abyss - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/6/19

The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution – 5/7/19

Queen of the South: Season 3 – 5/7/19

Lucifer: Season 4 - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/8/19

Bathtubs Over Broadway – 5/9/19

Insidious – 5/9/19

Dry Martina - NETFLIX FILM – 5/10/19

Easy: Season 3 - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/10/19

Gente que viene y bah - NETFLIX FILM – 5/10/19

Harvey Girls Forever!: Season 2 - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/10/19

Jailbirds - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/10/19

Pose: Season 1 – 5/10/19

ReMastered: The Lion's Share - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/10/19

Shéhérazade - NETFLIX FILM – 5/10/19

The Society - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/10/19

Wine Country - NETFLIX FILM – 5/10/19

Week of May 12

Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj: Volume 3 - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/12/19

Malibu Rescue - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/13/19

revisions - NETFLIX ANIME – 5/14/19

Still LAUGH-IN: The Stars Celebrate - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/14/19

Weed the People – 5/14/19

Dennis & Gnasher: Unleashed! – 5/15/19

Good Sam - NETFLIX FILM – 5/16/19

Take Me Home Tonight – 5/16/19

1994: Limited Series - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/17/19

Chip & Potato - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/17/19

It's Bruno - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/17/19

Maria - NETFLIX FILM – 5/17/19

Morir para contar - NETFLIX FILM – 5/17/19

Nailed It!: Season 3 - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/17/19

See You Yesterday - NETFLIX FILM – 5/17/19

The Rain: Season 2 - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/17/19

Well Intended Love - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/17/19

White Gold: Season 2 - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/17/19

The Blackcoat's Daughter – 5/18/19

Week of May 19

Prince of Peoria: Part 2 - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/20/19

Rosario Tijeras (Mexico Version): Season 2 – 5/20/19

Arrow: Season 7 – 5/21/19

Moonlight – 5/21/19

Wanda Sykes: Not Normal - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/21/19

A Tale of Two Kitchens - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/22/19

One Night in Spring - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/22/19

The Flash: Season 5 – 5/22/19

Riverdale: Season 3 – 5/23/19

Slasher: Solstice - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/23/19

After Maria - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/24/19

Alta Mar - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/24/19

Joy - NETFLIX FILM – 5/24/19

Rim of the World - NETFLIX FILM – 5/24/19

She's Gotta Have It: Season 2 - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/24/19

The Perfection - NETFLIX FILM – 5/24/19

WHAT / IF - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/24/19

Week of May 26

Historical Roasts - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/27/19

Outlander: Seasons 1-2 – 5/27/19

Disney's The Nutcracker and the Four Realms – 5/28/19

Chopsticks - NETFLIX FILM – 5/30/19

My Week with Marilyn – 5/30/19

Svaha: The Sixth Finger - NETFLIX FILM – 5/30/19

The One I Love - 5/30/19

Always Be My Maybe - NETFLIX FILM – 5/31/19

Bad Blood: Season 2 - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/31/19

Black Spot: Season 2 - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/31/19

How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast) - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/31/19

Killer Ratings - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/31/19

When They See Us - NETFLIX ORIGINAL – 5/31/19

May TBD

Charmed (2018): Season 1

DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Season 4

The Mechanism: Season 2 -- NETFLIX ORIGINAL

Supergirl: Season 4

The movies heading to Netflix next month are pretty varied, with old favorites coming in with the new and exciting content the streaming giant is promising. With originals like the Amy Poehler-directed ensemble comedy Wine Country or the Spike Lee produced sci-fi drama See You Tomorrow, audiences will get a chance to see something new that's not heading to the movie theater.

Which will probably be a great change of pace once the excitement of Avengers: Endgame starts to die down. Meanwhile, interesting picks like the industrial musical documentary Bathtubs Over Broadway, or old favorites like Scarface and Scream, are also available for the curious movie lover to enjoy on their own comfortable couch.

However, TV has some pretty amazing surprises in its own debuts, as not only is She's Gotta Have It back for a second season of complicated love, but Lucifer is finally arriving as Netflix's latest network pickup turned original series. Also, if you've been waiting for more of Hasan Minaj's trademark snark and wit while breaking down the news, Patriot Act will be back with Volume 3 closer to the beginning of the month.

As far as broadcast TV offerings go, DC fans will get the latest seasons of Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash and Supergirl this month. Also, if you're a Riverdale fan who's behind on Season 3, you'll get your chance to catch up not too long after the finale airs. Finally, if you've been putting off exposing yourself to the Outlander phenomenon, you're about to lose your last excuse, as the first two seasons will be on Netflix in May.

Keep in mind, all of the titles listed above are subject to change. So if you're dead set on watching certain titles, be sure to check for their availability through your Netflix profile. And if you're still making your way through this month's new additions, take a look at our list of the best and brightest to be added to the platform in April.

M. Night Shyamalan Is Working On His First Movie Post-Glass

M. Night Shyamalan Is Working On His First Movie Post-Glass

After becoming an outcast from Hollywood’s good graces for almost a decade, M. Night Shyamalan has recently earned himself a successful comeback by continuing the story he started in 2000’s Unbreakable with Split and Glass. With his unexpected trilogy spanning 18 years now concluded, Shyamalan is starting fresh with a brand new project.

The Sixth Sense writer/director took to Twitter to tease this about the upcoming movie:

Exciting! The filmmaker has explored tons of different themes throughout his career and it looks like he’s itching to go back to tackling sci-fi this time around. His recent success with the Unbreakable trilogy has leaned toward being psychological thrillers, with commentary on comic book culture. He has made movies that lean in the science fiction genre before such as with Signs and After Earth - though these titles were met with different responses from audiences.

Whatever it may be, will the film continue Shyamalan’s winning streak? Only time will tell. The filmmaker is in the most early stages of developing his next project, working right now on the outline. So it will be years before we see what he has in store, and he’ll have to line up all the logistical ducks in a row that comes with movie-making as well.

Following his public movie failures in The Happening, The Last Airbender and After Earth, M. Night Shyamalan started financing his movies himself. He took out a $5 million loan on his Pennsylvania estate to fund the 2015 film The Visit before it made $100 million worldwide, and $9 million for Split before it racked up an impressive $278 million worldwide. He even financed Glass, which cost $20 million to develop and was an early 2019 success with a $246 million haul worldwide.

One Glass lead is already ready to sign up for Shyamalan’s next project. Take a look:

Sarah Paulson is in if he needs her! The actress who played Dr. Ellie Staple in the filmmaker’s most recent movie is smart to put her name in while he’s outlining the script too! There’s a better chance he’ll think of her as he develops the movie from the ground up.

Glass suffered poor reviews from most critics that led it to receive a 37% score on Rotten Tomatoes and Shyamalan shedding some tears over that. Fans of the writer/director liked it a lot more and went out to see it despite the reviews, contributing to the movie’s success.

In addition to this new movie he’s just getting started on, M. Night Shyamalan has a television series with Apple’s upcoming streaming service in the works called Servant. It’s said to be a psychological thriller about parents who hire a young nanny to take care of their newborn but “things are not quite as they seem”. Six Feet Under’s Lauren Ambrose and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ Toby Kebbell will play the couple. Game of Thrones’ Nell Tiger Free, the nanny and Harry Potter’s Rupert Grint will also star.

Are you excited to see M. Night Shyamalan take on another science fiction movie? Let us know in the comments below!

What Makes A Good Nude Scene, According To Patricia Clarkson

What Makes A Good Nude Scene, According To Patricia Clarkson

The entertainment world, like the real world, is being looked at with a magnifying glass as of late. Conversation around gender and race inequality have been major talking points, as show business institutions examine the way women and people of color are treated. This includes the handling of love scenes and nude scenes, with new changes helping to ensure everyone on set is comfortable.

Patricia Clarkson has had a long career on both the film and stage, and has had to de-robe a few times. In fact, Clarkson notably had a nude scene with Bradley Cooper in the Broadway revival of The Elephant Man. She recently spoke to what makes a good nude scene, declaring:

Sometimes I do think that nudity is essential to take the character to a different place. Nudity is always difficult. It’s never easy, and it shouldn’t be easy. It should be essential.

Well, that's one way of thinking about it. While nude scenes can sometimes be exploitative or unnecessary, Patricia Clarkson also believes the opposite is possible. She thinks nudity should be approached only when its essential to the story. As such, it has an important role in the narrative, rather than showing the ripped bodies of movie stars. While those scenes likely aren't going anywhere, Clarkson also believes actors baring their bodies could have a profound affect on a project.

Patricia Clarkson's comments come from her Q&A after winning the Precious Gem Award (via THR). The 59 year-old actress discussed various issues in show business, before touching on nudity on the screen and stage. Clarkson has only done a few nude scenes, although one of them was live on stage during the run of The Elephant Man with Bradley Cooper. But as the circumstances of the play warranted her nudity, it was something the actress was happy to do night after night.

Bradley Cooper seems to have similar feelings about nude scenes, if his directorial debut A Star Is Born is any indication. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper bore their bodies onscreen only briefly during artistic montages of Ally and Jackson's love. That is, until the gut punching bath tub scene in the film's second act. After Ally receives her first Grammy nominations, she and Jackson have an argument while she's in the tub. When he calls hi wife ugly things get especially heated, and Lady Gaga's character stands up, demanding he get out of the room.

This scene was actually the most nudity that Lady Gaga did in A Star Is Born. And ultimately it helped move the story forward, and the nudity is what Patricia Clarkson might refer to se "essential". Ally's vulnerability in that moment is shown through her nudity, as well as the visceral anger she feels in the moment.

Patricia Clarkson was recently seen on the final season of House of Cards, and has two movies in pre-production. Be sure to check CinemaBlend's 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Robert Downey Jr. Shares Inside Look At Tony’s Most Epic Scene In Avengers: Endgame

Robert Downey Jr. Shares Inside Look At Tony’s Most Epic Scene In Avengers: Endgame

Warning: SPOILERS for Avengers: Endgame are ahead!

We knew going into Avengers: Endgame that this was going to be an especially big movie for Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark since it was the culmination of a story that he helped kick off in 2008’s Iron Man, as well as the fact that this was the final movie on Downey’s Marvel contract. Sure enough, Endgame saw Tony making the ultimate sacrifice to vanquish Thanos and his forces, and Downey has shared a behind-the-scenes look at Tony’s last act in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Following in the footsteps of Thanos and The Hulk, Tony Stark became the third individual to channel the power of all six Infinity Stones on screen, only like his buddy Bruce Banner, Tony inserted the Stones into his own nanotech Infinity Gauntlet. Alas, Robert Downey Jr. was not wearing such a glove in real life, as you can see from the above picture he posted on Instagram. That was completely CGI.

Nevertheless, this was one of the most epic moments in Avengers: Endgame, as just when it seemed like the Thanos from 2014 was going to erase the entire universe and replace it with a new one, it turned out that Tony Stark had swiped the Infinity Stones from Thanos’ gauntlet to put in his own. One snap later, and Thanos and his forces all turned to dust. Unfortunately, a normal human wasn’t meant to use all the Infinity Stones, so Tony lost his life to save all of existence.

Since Robert Downey Jr. knew going into Avengers: Endgame that this would be his last Marvel movie, you have to imagine filming these scenes were emotional for him, especially Tony Stark’s Infinity Snap. Not only does Tony deliver one last heroic act in the MCU, his utterance of “And I… am Iron Man” reminds of when Tony told the press that same thing at the end of the first Iron Man movie, setting the stage for a franchise unlike any ever seen before.

Tony Stark would stick around long enough to say goodbye to War Machine, Spider-Man and his wife, Pepper Potts, but that snap ended his story. All the major characters we’ve met in the MCU over the years attended his funeral, and while his daughter Morgan is only 5 right now, perhaps she’ll become an important player in this franchise later down the line, carrying on where her father left off.

But Avengers: Endgame didn’t close the book on Tony Stark’s story. It also capped off the tale of Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, who chose to stay in the past with Peggy Carter and passed on his vibranium shield to Sam Wilson, a.k.a. Falcon, as an elderly man. Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow, also died during Endgame, but because her solo movie is coming up, we’ll at least get to learn more about her pre-Avengers years.

Be sure to read CinemaBlend’s review of Avengers: Endgame and stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates on the future of the MCU. If you’re curious about what movies are already lined up, look through our handy guide.

Netflix Has Finally Agreed To Remove Bird Box's Disaster Footage

Netflix Has Finally Agreed To Remove Bird Box's Disaster Footage

Three months ago, Netflix’s viral release Bird Box rocked the boat when Canadians recognized the movie included footage of Lac-Megantic Rail disaster, and demanded the streaming service remove the tragedy killed 47 people in 2013 from the film. After Netflix previously disagreed to do so, the company is no longer taking a blind eye to the controversy.

The streaming giant has now told The Canadian Press that they will now remove the images of the train disaster from Bird Box in the next two weeks, and will be replacing the footage with a new clip for the scene illustrating the chaos all around Europe to Sandra Bullock and Sarah Paulson’s characters before the sci-fi phenomenon that forces a group of survivors to don blindfolds hits home.

Netflix paired this announcement with an apology to the Lac-Megantic community, who have been outspoken about the potential harm the film has to family and friends to victims of the rail disaster. The town’s mayor, Julie Morin, who joined in on demanding Netflix remove the footage offered her satisfying reaction to Netflix’s new decision. In her words:

Yes, there was a delay, but I think in the end, what’s most important for me, is that we have a solution to this situation we felt was important to settle.

When requests were initially made to the streaming service about taking out the footage in Bird Box, the company responded with an apology and promise to do better in the future, but a refusal to delete the footage. Netflix cited the inability to make alterations to finished content to justify the decision.

Canada was so displeased with the rail disaster footage that the country’s parliament passed a motion asking Netflix to pay the Lac-Megantic community for their grief following the film’s release. The streaming site never seemed to address this motion, but are pulling back on their initial decision to keep the insensitive footage in Bird Box.

The same footage was also previously featured in an episode of Netflix’s Travelers television show, though the show producers agreed to remove it back in January. It’s unclear as to why Netflix took so long to comply to the Bird Box situation that angered many ­– perhaps the studio needed time to find a replacement clip or was waiting for the Bird Box pop culture high to wind down.

Bird Box faced multiple controversies after it was released in December 2018, including a trending Bird Box Challenge, which proved dangerous when people placing blindfolds and attempting tasks such as driving caused concern. Netflix had to issue a warning for fans to refrain from ending up “in the hospital due to memes”. Otherwise, the film was one of the streaming sites most-watched original films ever.

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker’s Ending Was Changed During Filming

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker’s Ending Was Changed During Filming

Although it’s important for a script to be finished by the time a movie starts shooting, that doesn’t mean certain elements of the story won’t change during filming. In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s case, its ending went through various changes in the creative process, including as the cameras were rolling on the final installment of the Skywalker Saga. As Daisy Ridley recalled when asked how she found out about The Rise of Skywalker’s ending:

J.J. had told me and then I read the script, and then it was sort of shifting. The ending was always pretty similar, and then I was told there was a new, I guess, a slightly different beat added that I was told, which was awesome. Because it's nice to be told a thing, and then you can experience it with the filmmaker. But also, we don't always know how it's going to turn out. We did the thing on this side of the camera, but we don't know how it's going to turn out. So I'm as excited to see it as everyone else.

So going off what Daisy Ridley told Fox 32 anchor and ReelBlend cohost Jake Hamilton, while the overall scope of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s ending sounds like it will be the same as what J.J. Abrams told the actress who knows when, there were some minor adjustments made during the course of production. Even then, given that there’s still a lot of postproduction work to finish, plus any time that might be set aside for reshoots, maybe even more changes will be implemented.

Of course, given how secretive Disney and Lucasfilm are when it comes to upcoming Star Wars movies, even in comparison to other major film franchises, we probably won’t get any inkling of what Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s ending holds in store through advertising and marketing. Ideally after the movie has come out, Daisy Ridley, J.J. Abrams or someone else on the cast and crew will be forthcoming about how the final ending differed from what was originally put on paper.

Taking place approximately a year after the events of The Last Jedi, no specific plot details for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker have been revealed yet. That said, the trailer did reveal some interesting tidbits, like how the protagonists will be visiting a site containing some Death Star wreckage and that Emperor Palpatine will somehow fit into the proceedings.

Daisy Ridley’s Rey is joined by other familiar faces from the Star Wars movies, like John Boyega’s Finn, Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron, Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker and Billy Dee Williams’ Lando Calrissian, while unused footage of Carrie Fisher from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi will allow Leia Organa to be included. As for new characters, Naomi Ackie’s Jannah will be along for the ride, as will Keri Russell, Richard E. Grant and Dominic Monaghan’s still-to-be-identified players.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens in theaters on December 20. If you’re interested in learning what else the Star Wars franchise has coming up, look through our handy guide, or browse through our 2019 release schedule to find out what movies not taking place in a galaxy far, far away are coming out this year.

The Original 6 Avengers’ Most Defining Scenes In the MCU

The Original 6 Avengers’ Most Defining Scenes In the MCU

We’re in the endgame now. The Avengers movie we’ve been awaiting, theorizing about, obsessing over and anticipating more than any other movie for quite some time is finally coming to theaters this week. Avengers: Endgame has been marketed as the culmination of over a decade of Marvel films revolving around the core six who kicked this whole thing off. The original six Avengers also just happen to be some of the few heroes left after Thanos’ snap.

Since it's distinctly possible we’ll be saying some goodbyes to the heroes at the center of this franchise phenomenon, let’s take a trip down memory lane to the moments in the MCU that were instrumental in defining the climax we’ll soon be witnessing. Avengers Assemble!

I Am Iron Man

Iron Man kicked off the MCU back in 2008 with an unforgettable bang from Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark when he broke the superhero cardinal rule: announcing your identity… oh, and on live television. It was already a different kind of origin story about a billionaire playboy’s journey into creating his own tech to undo the damage his weapons company had created. The final moment of the film showed the new Marvel universe wouldn’t be playing the same game as Superman or Batman and making a mark of its own.

I Told You, I Don’t Want To Join Your Super Secret Boyband

After Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury makes his first appearance during the post-credit scene for Iron Man, the Avengers ringleader came back for the sequel to give Tony Stark a bit of an intervention on his recklessness midway through the film. He brings along Black Widow too on her first ever appearance in the MCU. It’s a funny scene that has Fury calling Stark out for what he’s doing wrong and helping him out on his hero work. While Stark is great at playing it off, he probably needed a dose of S.H.I.E.L.D. on his side at that moment before he had the Avengers.

If He Be Worthy

Chris Hemsworth’s Thor has certainly come a long way since having bleached eyebrows and Natalie Portman’s Jane on his arm in his 2011 origin story. The quirky action flick introduced audiences to the complicated relationship between brothers Thor and Loki, culminating in the scene where Thor stands up to his brother (who's controlling The Destroyer) by sacrificing himself in order to save the people on Earth. While he takes a pretty bad hit, it earns him the right to his iconic hammer from Odin. At the same time, it angers Loki further which later kicks off the events of The Avengers.

Peggy, I’m Gonna Need A Raincheck On That Dance

This scene gets me every. single. time. It’s the moment when Cap must force down the plane in order to save everyone while on the line with Peggy Carter. It’s also the scene that signals Steve Rogers’ ultimate sacrifice to become a hero, which he ends up needing to live with nearly 70 years later when he is dug out of some ice. As Cap’s journey continues, the past that could have been haunts him and his relationship with Peggy is an important one (even alluded to in an Endgame trailer).

I’m In The Middle Of An Interrogation

It’s crazy to imagine that just a few years ago in 2012, a showcase of female badassery such as Black Widow’s at the beginning of The Avengers was something new to be introduced on screen. Since we have Rey in Star Wars, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel and so on, but I distinctly remember the way Scarlett Johansson lights up this scene in particular feeling special. It was the start of an era for action flicks and this defining scene was certainly part of it. From her snark and the skilled choreography, this is the moment when we were all sold on Black Widow.

That’s My Secret Cap, I’m Always Angry

Aside from the snap, this might just be the most iconic moment in the MCU to date. As Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye deal with the chaos attacking New York, Bruce Banner later rides up on a motorcycle to help. While the character’s fear of losing control to the “other guy” is brought up throughout the film, here he embraces it with the above line and completes the Avengers team once he Hulks out. That iconic shot of the six of them in a circle taking on the alien army showed the power of the MCU as the team was successfully brought together.

I’m Not Going To Fight You, You’re My Friend

Skipping to Captain America: Winter Soldier, Steve Rogers grapples with his past in a big way when he ends up in a showdown fight with his ol’ pal Bucky (a.k.a. Winter Soldier) in the finale of the film. A brainwashed Bucky is beating Cap up real good, but he refuses to fight with his best friend, even trying to jog his memory to help him remember. It’s a clever work of irony that the one piece of his past he can have is the person who he is at odds with. While the relationship between them never seem to feel like the ‘40s, an ounce of Bucky does come through when he saves Cap from drowning.

Did You Bring Auntie Nat?

The MCU has always struggled a bit to give Hawkeye a story arc for the audience to care about, especially when he wasn’t given a movie of his own prior and his abilities are objectively less impressive than his fellow members. Avengers: Age of Ultron helped turned that around when it was revealed that Hawkeye has a family of his own living out somewhere in a safehouse set up by Fury. His wife (Linda Cardellini) and kids surprise the other Avengers when they turn up to the house and Natasha has a cute banter with them. The scene helped to humanize Clint and get us more interested in his double life.

We’re Still Friends, Right?

Fans were divided into Team Cap and Team Iron Man in the event film Captain America: Civil War that had a bit of the old and new team of heroes fighting against each other based on principle. It will be hard to soon forget the airport battle that had Spider-Man, Ant-Man and Black Panther being featured in the mix, along with most of the original Avengers punching it out in a dynamic we’re not used to. Black Widow and Hawkeye going head-to-head was really fun, along with Cap and Spidey, but when Rhodey got hurt, it took a turn for the serious.

I Can Do This All Day

Civil War went for another unexpected match-up of hero versus hero when Iron Man and Captain America ended up getting into a heated fist fight over what should be done with Bucky, who is revealed to be the killer of Stark’s parents, but is still Cap’s old bestie. It was a heartbreaking moment to watch as the heroes who once worked side-by-side were violently going at each other until Cap pins Iron Man on the floor and walks away with Bucky as he yells “That shield doesn’t belong to you. You don’t deserve it. My father made that shield.”

Are You Thor? The God of Hammers?

After Thor: Ragnarok delivered a completely different (and welcome) side of Odinson thanks to Taika Waititi’s direction, the third Thor film also upgraded his powers as well to someone much more powerful than a big hunk with a hammer. After Hela rips out his eye and looks to be doing quite well for herself in taking over Asgard, Thor is able to see a vision of his father, who tells him that the hammer isn’t the source of his power, but a way to wield it. To “Immigrant Song,” Thor comes out with this thunderous powers and with some help from Hulk and the gang, takes down her army. His newfound powers come in handy for Thanos, but aren't quite enough…

You Should Have Gone For The Head

This scene brings us up to speed to the jaw-dropping events of Infinity War where the Avengers actually fail to stop Thanos from possessing all the Infinity Stones and wiping out half of all life in the universe. The scene when the core Avengers have to watch as heroes all around them turn to dust and they are powerless to stop it is truly one we won’t soon forget, especially since it’s so untypical for them to not save the day. The ending was a complete shock at the end of the movie, especially when they were so close to victory. It showed the Avengers are flawed and not at a place of unity.

What’s next for the Avengers? We’ll know soon when Endgame hits theaters on April 26. What are your favorite moments in the MCU so far? Let us know in the comments below!

How Much Hellboy Made On Opening Night

How Much Hellboy Made On Opening Night

The newly rebooted Hellboy made his debut to audiences last night and while things are looking good for the big red guy to be the top performer of this weekend's new releases, the early screenings totals certainly didn't blow anybody away, as the film apparently earned about $1.4 million last night.

While making over $1 million over just a couple showings per screen last night is certainly nothing to sneeze at, it's a far cry from the numbers that comic book movies tend to put up. For comparison, last weekend, Shazam! ended up doing a better than expected $5.9 million, or more than four times what Hellboy did last night.

To be fair, Hellboy was never projected to do as well as Shazam! the expectations has been that the movie will likely do about $17 million domestically this weekend and the Thursday night numbers would still put it on track to do about that much. Variety points out that Resident Evil: The Final Chapter did about $1 million on its opening night on the way to a $13.6 million opening weekend, so Hellboy is on track to improve on that. Still, if Shazam! sees a second weekend drop of 50% or less, or even slightly more, it will still win the weekend box office.

Of course, if the numbers do shake out as expected, it will put the new Hellboy movie behind the two previous films in terms of box office. Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy saw an opening weekend of gross of $23 million when it hit in 2004. The follow up, 2008's Hellboy II: The Golden Army, improved on that with $34.5 million.

Clearly, expectations had to have been higher for the reboot. Unless the brand new Hellboy was incredibly inexpensive to produce, it's going to have a hard time making its money back unless the film is a massive hit overseas. Guillermo del Toro tried and failed multiple times to find a studio willing to finance the third film he always wanted to make. The fact that a studio was willing to produce a reboot means somebody thought it was a safer bet than making another film in the existing series.

Hellboy's box office concerns match the film's critical problems. Hellboy currently has a 12% positive rating on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. Critics pretty much universally loathe the movie. While I don't think Rotten Tomatoes has quite the power to sway audiences that some give it credit for, it's certainly true that numbers like that don't help the situation any.

Baring surprises, it seems that Hellboy will continue his struggle at the box office. The character may not be as popular as your average marvel or DC hero, but he certainly has big fans that would love to see him succeed. Those fans may need to continue waiting.

Did The Avengers: Endgame Trailer Tease A New Hawkeye?

Did The Avengers: Endgame Trailer Tease A New Hawkeye?

It’s been three years since we last saw Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton in action in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but he’s finally back next month in Avengers: Endgame. This time around, he’s adopted a look reminiscent of his time as Ronin in the Marvel Comics, but obviously Clint is known best in both the comics and this film franchise as Hawkeye, archer extraordinaire. That said, it’s become common in the comics for multiple individuals in the comics to share the same superhero identity, Hawkeye being one of them. A new Endgame trailer dropped today, and there’s a moment that has us wondering if someone new will be taking over the Hawkeye mantle in the MCU.

What little we’ve seen of Clint Barton in the Avengers: Endgame previews so far have indicated he’s going through a particularly rough time post-Decimation. After all, he’d already retired from the superhero life at the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron, and after picking his bow and arrows back up during Captain America: Civil War, he was imprisoned and made a house arrest deal so that he could be with his family. But once again, he’s back in the field, this time with a drastically different costume and a mohawk. Many people have assumed that Clint’s wife and children were turned to dust along with half of all other life in the universe, which explains his new look and darker demeanor, but that has yet to be confirmed.

However, there’s one brief moment of happiness for Clint Barton in the latest Avengers: Endgame trailer, as he’s shown have a good time with a girl showing off her own archery skills. Check it out:

At the very least, this snippet highlights a happier time in Clint Barton’s life, either in the past or potentially in the future, assuming he makes it out of Avengers: Endgame intact. But this is the MCU; the smallest of moments can be teases for something bigger to come later. In this case, perhaps Clint training this young woman in archery means that she’ll take over as Hawkeye in the coming years. In other words, is the MCU bringing in Kate Bishop?

Created by writer Allan Heinberg and artist Jim Cheung, and introduced in 2005’s Young Avengers #1, Kate Bishop, who comes from a rich Manhattanite family, encountered the Young Avengers as a civilian during one of their early missions, but it didn’t take long for her and Cassie Lang, daughter of then-Ant-Man Scott Lang, to find the superhero team and invite themselves on as members. Initially Kate wore a variety of battle gear that belonged to various Marvel heroes and villains, including Hawkeye’s bow.

Although the main Avengers team demanded that the Young Avengers disband, Kate and the others refused, and when member Patriot was injured in battle, Kate blamed Captain America for he and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes not taking the time to train them. Impressed by Kate standing up to Steve Rogers, and noting that the only other person she’d seen do that to the Star Spangled Avenger was Clint Barton, Jessica Jones gave Clint’s old bow and arrows to Kate, leading to her becoming the new Hawkeye.

After Kate Bishop inherited the Hawkeye codename, Clint Barton was resurrected from the dead and had decided to wear Captain America’s uniform and shield since Steve Rogers had “died” after the Civil War conflict. Crossing paths with Clint, Kate, unaware of who he truly was, berated him for wearing Cap’s costume, noting that even though she’s going by Hawkeye, she didn’t copy his costume because that would have been disrespectful, and if Hawkeye were still alive, she would have taken a different codename too. Her words inspired Clint to go down his own path and become Ronin, and later he revealed his true identity to Kate and gave her his blessing to continue as Hawkeye. Clint would later revert to go back to Hawkeye, but Kate still holds that mantle as well, and the two have become crimefighting partners.

The MCU hasn’t delved into the concept of legacy heroes yet, but with Avengers: Endgame concluding the current iteration of this franchise and paving the way for a new era, that could change. Unlike Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner’s MCU future hasn’t really been a topic of conversation. While it hasn’t been rumored he’s done after Endgame, there’s also no indication he’ll be back for another movie or will lead his own Disney+ series. If Clint makes it out of Endgame alive and his family is brought back as well, one would imagine he’d want to return to his life of retirement. That leaves the Hawkeye mantle up for the taking, and Kate Bishop could easily fill that position, although the circumstances of her and Clint meeting would obviously be much different.

There’s also the possibility that it won’t be Kate Bishop who takes over as the new Hawkeye in the MCU, but Clint Barton’s own daughter, Lila. The problem with this theory is that the timeline, as sketchy as it is, doesn’t line up. Approximately 3-4 years pass between Avengers: Age of Ultron and Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame looks to be picking up shortly after Infinity War. But even with that amount of time having passed, Lila doesn’t look like she’s old enough to be the girl in the Endgame trailer.

That said, there have been plenty of rumors that Avengers: Endgame will visit the future, and it was rumored last year that Emma Furhman is playing an older version of Cassie Lang. Given his hairstyle, Clint obviously isn’t his Ronin self in this scene with the girl, so instead, this could is a flash forward to after Thanos has been defeated and everything has returned to normal… well, as normal as things can be in the MCU. If that’s the case, then that girl could easily be a teenaged Lila, and thus there’s setup for her to become Hawkeye even further down the road.

Whether Kate Bishop, Lila Barton or someone else takes over as Hawkeye in the MCU, or if we’ll even get a new Hawkeye, just like with the other starring heroes in Avengers: Endgame, this story will be a major turning point for Clint Barton. This is clearly a dark time for him, and while he was lucky enough to survive The Decimation, there’s no guarantee he’ll make it out of this latest mission alive. Still, I’m leaning towards Clint surviving, and if even if we don’t see Jeremy Renner in another MCU movie after this, his character’s left behind a notable heroic legacy, and it would be cool for a young woman, whoever she may be, to step in and continue where he left off as part of a new generation of heroes.

Avengers: Endgame opens in theaters on April 26, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. In the meantime, look through our Marvel movies guide to learn what’s lined up for Phase 4 and our 2019 release schedule to learn what other movies are coming out later this year.