The Secret Life Of Pets 2's Opening Is Outpacing Dark Phoenix

The Secret Life Of Pets 2's Opening Is Outpacing Dark Phoenix

June 7 sees an interesting showdown at the box office. In one corner, Dark Phoenix, the latest and likely final chapter in a long-running cinematic superhero saga; a film based on one of the most iconic comic book storyline ever and starring one of the faces of the biggest TV show on the planet. In the other corner, is The Secret Life of Pets 2. And wouldn’t you know it, Illumination’s animated sequel might open bigger than Dark Phoenix.

Based on early tracking, Universal’s The Secret Life of Pets 2 is looking to open to around $65 million domestically over the June 7-9 weekend according to Variety. That significantly outpaces the roughly $50 million Dark Phoenix is forecasted to open to. The other release that weekend, the R-rated comedy Late Night, is projected to open to less than $10 million.

So if the tracking bears out at the box office, The Secret Life of Pets 2 will win the weekend and Dark Phoenix will have to settle for second. On the surface, it might seem strange for an animated kids movie to be outpacing a big superhero film in an established franchise, but the signs that this box office contest would have this outcome have been there for a while.

The long-range tracking from last month had the Simon Kinberg-directed X-Men film opening to between $40 million and $55 million and the updated tracking of $50 million is right in line with that. But more than how low Dark Phoenix would open at is how high The Secret Life of Pets 2 could.

The Secret Life of Pets opened to $104.3 million in 2016 on its way to hauls of $368.3 million domestically and $875 million worldwide. That $104.3 million for the first film is larger than the opening of every film in the X-Men franchise save for the two Deadpool movies.

Illumination’s movies might not have quite the acclaim of Pixar’s but kids love these movies and they make bank. The Secret Life of Pets 2 is also opening in something of a dead zone for kids’ movies. Unless you count Aladdin from two weeks prior, the only major kids’ movie in the vicinity is Toy Story 4 on June 21.

It must always be said that tracking is an inexact science and these numbers could change but it certainly is looking like The Secret Life of Pets 2 will douse Dark Phoenix’s hopes of taking the X-Men franchise out in a blaze of glory; at the box office at least, we can still hope the quality is great. Despite the strong competition from cute animated animals, an opening of $50 million would be a low point for the X-Men franchise.

The last mainline X-Men film, 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse opened to $65 million over 3 days and $80 over the 4-day Memorial Day weekend. To date, every film about the mutants since 2000’s X-Men has opened in 1st place at the box office, with the lowest debut being 2013’s The Wolverine, which opened to $53.1 million. So a $50 million opening and second place would be disappointing in that regard.

Dark Phoenix and The Secret Life of Pets 2 both open on June 7. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of all of this summer’s biggest movies.

How Much Money Bohemian Rhapsody Made For Freddie Mercury’s Family

How Much Money Bohemian Rhapsody Made For Freddie Mercury’s Family

It’s no secret that Bohemian Rhapsody was one of the most triumphant champions of this past award season, especially at the box office, where the Queen biopic made about $900 million worldwide. That’s a lot of money going around that the late Freddie Mercury may not get to bask in, but his family will get to share a bit of the film’s success with their own cut of earnings.

When the Queen frontman passed in 1991, he left 50% of his future earnings and London mansion from Queen to Mary Austin, the “love of his life” and longtime friend. The other 50% was divided among his parents (who have since passed) and sister Kashmira Bulsara. According to Sunday Express, this puts Austin’s earnings for Bohemian Rhapsody at least at $60 million and his sister’s at $25 million. The remaining members of Queen may make $90 million each thanks to the phenomenon the movie about their band’s life achieved.

Mary Austin, played by Lucy Boynton, had a significant role in Bohemian Rhapsody as it tracked their longtime friendship that began as a love story that shifted as Freddie started to embrace his sexuality. Though the their romance had a falling out, Austin looked to be a constant friend in the frontman’s life and was even present in Bohemian Rhapsody’s epic conclusion that recreated their iconic Live Aid performance.

The role of Freddie’s sister in Bohemian Rhapsody was small, as the family moments centered on his complicated relationship with his father. Kashmira did get a chance to witness Rami Malek in action as her brother. Here’s what the initial exchange played out from the words of Malek:

She got to see me as young Freddy with long hair and, of course, the teeth, makeup---the whole kind of 1970s early glam rock look. She laughed. As you can imagine it was an incredibly kind of bizarre, alien moment for her... She did [cry] later on. On a serious note, she wrote me the most moving email. It was very powerful. To get that vote of appreciate from the people closest to them was everything to me.

While it was a strange experience for Kashmira at first, she seemed to have embraced Malek as Freddie. Here’s what Freddie’s sister said thought about Bohemian Rhapsody:

I was happy to find out they were going to make the movie. And, although it was very emotional for me, I thought it was tastefully done.

Oh… and she gets a sweet Bohemian Rhapsody check too! It is nice to see some of the key players in Freddie Mercury’s life are getting to share in the success of the telling of his life, which had a mix of highs and lows. It must have been an interesting experience to watch some events of their own life play out on the big screen and it certainly seemed like it was an emotional journey to watch it come to life and be so warmly received.

Zack Snyder's Netflix Movie Has Cast Its First Star

Zack Snyder's Netflix Movie Has Cast Its First Star

Netflix has been lining up more and more big name Hollywood talent to boost up its library of big budget content. One of the streaming services latest projects comes from Zack Snyder. The film will be his first directorial effort since 2017's Justice League, and it will be a post-apocalyptic zombie movie called Army of the Dead. Not too much is known about the project, but Snyder has found his lead actor in the form of Marvel star Dave Bautista.

According to Deadline, Dave Bautista will headline Army of the Dead for Netflix and Zack Snyder. Not too much is known about his specific role in the film, but the story is set in Las Vegas amid a zombie outbreak, and a man assembles a team of mercenaries to pull of a spectacular heist. One would assume that Bautista will play said man. I'm not sure why a heist needs to be pulled when zombies are a thing, but we'll find out soon enough.

Army of the Dead was scripted by Shay Hatten and Zach Snyder. Snyder is also producing the film alongside his wife, Deborah Snyder.

This is just the latest in a growing line of projects for Dave Bautista, who hasn't had any problem building up his resume. The wrestler turned action star has appeared in such films as Spectre and Blade Runner 2049. Bautista is also a part of the Escape Plan movies starring Sylvester Stallone, with the third one, Escape Plan: The Extractors, set to arrive in theaters later this year.

Of course, Dave Bautista is best known for his role as Drax the Destroyer in the MCU's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. We have no idea if Drax will return in the rapidly approaching Avengers: Endgame, but he's expected to be in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. James Gunn is back in the director's chair, and Bautista, who was a strong critic when Gunn was initially fired from the film, said he was excited to work with the filmmaker again.

As for Dave Bautista's upcoming films, he'll be appearing in the action-comedy Stuber alongside Kumail Nanjiani this summer on July 12. The film follows a grizzled detective (Bautista) who recruits an Uber driver (Nanjiani) to stop a terrorist after the cop crashes his car. The film premiered at South by Southwest in March to positive reviews, and thanks to the Disney-Fox merger, it'll be the first R-rated film released by Disney since 2013.

You can also catch Bautista in the family-comedy My Spy, which premiered its first trailer at CinemaCon last week. The actor will also be reuniting with director Denis Villenueve in the upcoming Dune remake.

Dave Bautista is a busy man! There's no release date for Army of the Dead just yet, but you can check all the cool movies Netflix has coming up with our streaming guide.

Did Avengers: Endgame Already Reveal Captain Marvel’s New Suit?

Did Avengers: Endgame Already Reveal Captain Marvel’s New Suit?

After a long year of waiting, Avengers: Endgame is just days away. Casual Moviegoers and hardcore Marvel fans alike have anxiously awaited the next installment in the franchise, which will pick up the narrative after Infinity War's shocking twist ending. Thanos' victory wiped out half of all life, and the surviving heroes are going to need all the help they can get in order to take the fight to the Mad Titan.

Luckily for The Avengers, help is on the way. Brie Larson's Captain Marvel will cross over to the rest of the MCU when she appears in Endgame, bringing a ton of power with her. Fans are eager to catch back up with Carol Danvers, and the newest Endgame trailer may have revealed her new suit. Check out a screenshot below.

Get psyched Captain Marvel fans, because it looks like she may be getting her signature sash and new suit in Avengers: Endgame. The above image shows a costume that looks decidedly different than it did in her origin story, including the sash from the character's comic book appearance.

This new image is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment from the most recent trailer for Avengers: Endgame. That clip focused on the MCU's long tenure in theaters, and included only a few brief moments from the upcoming ensemble project. But even the smallest cuts will be dissected by the rabid Marvel fanbase, which is exactly what happened and eventually resulted in the above shot being shared on Twitter.

Captain Marvel's upcoming costume change will excite the hardcore comic book fans, who can judge movie adaptations based on how accurately they represented action on the page. Carol Danvers has gone through a ton of costumes throughout the years, although most of them feature a sash around her waist. That was absent from the functional suit that she was given in Captain Marvel, but it appears that may change in her second appearance in the MCU.

While a sash seems like a small detail, it would connect Captain Marvel's costume to her comic book roots. What's more, it'll give her flying sequences an extra level of movement, since her suit doesn't exactly have much give. Now the question is: how does she get the new duds?

As a reminder, you can check out the new trailer below. Captain Marvel's upcoming costume change briefly flashes onscreen in its final moments.

Marvel fans are eager to see Carol Danvers finally join the greater MCU, and interact with the Avengers who didn't fade away to dust as a result of The Decimation. She's got a big ego, and should clash interestingly with more comedic characters like Iron Man and Rocket. But she's also got a few decades of superheroics under her belt, so the ego might be warranted.

All will be revealed when Avengers: Endgame arrives in theaters on April 26th. In the meantime, fill out our Endgame death pool, and check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

8 Marvel Movie Characters Who Could Be Skrulls In Disguise

8 Marvel Movie Characters Who Could Be Skrulls In Disguise

Captain Marvel introduced a lot of new ideas and revelations to the MCU, but the most significant -- outside of Carol herself -- might just be the Skrulls. Comic book nerds are hoping that now that the shape-shifting Skrulls are in the picture, it won't be too long before Marvel Studios adapts the Secret Invasion storyline. The comic event featured the Skrulls playing the long game and systematically replacing key super heroes in order to take over the planet.

As to whether the MCU can even do this story is up to debate now that Captain Marvel introduced a more sympathetic version of the Skrulls. However, nothing is ever really off the table with the MCU and so we have to wonder: if Secret Invasion is in the works, what character has secretly been a Skrull this whole time? Someone would have to be a Skrull for the story to have any impact, and it just so happens that we have a few ideas.

Before we begin, here's my rationale for picking my choices:

1. There's no evidence to suggest the Skrulls can also copy superpowers beyond their own natural abilities. Otherwise, they all just would have copied Carol to have an unbeatable army of Captain Marvels. So, only normal humans are options.

2. The character has to make logical sense. If you are trying to take over the world, you're not going to take over a position that has no strategic value.

3. If the Skrulls are taking over Earth, it doesn't make sense to replace a Guardian of the Galaxy or other cosmic characters. That means we're keeping things strictly on Earth.

4. No love interests. It's crossing a very icky line for a Skrull to date anyone while lying about their true identity.

So, who are we looking at?

Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross

This is one of the more obvious and popular candidates, but there's a good reason for that. Thaddeus Ross is the Secretary of State, which means he's in one of the highest seats our government has to offer. The Skrull would be able to lay the ground work and use some political influence to prepare the planet for invasion, like, oh, I don't know...trying to control the Earth's superheroes and influence what they can and can't do. That's where the Sokovia Accords come into play and it could have been "Ross'" attempt to take some big pieces off of the chess board. Plus, there's a big gap in Ross' story. How does he go from being a washed up general getting wasted in the middle of the day to the Secretary of State? Maybe the Skrulls replaced the drunk Ross with their own man and got him a seat in Washington?

Everett Ross

The Skrulls are going after all of the Ross'. It makes sense that the Skrulls would want a man inside of the CIA to keep tabs on everything and further advance the invasion. Everett Ross seems to be in a high enough position to hold some sway. Of course, the real reason to go for Ross above all other agents is because of his close relationship to Wakanda, the most powerful country in the world. Controlling Wakanda would be a top tier item for the Skrulls, and Ross has already got the trust of Black Panther and the royal family. It'd be pretty lucky if a Skrull became Ross and THEN got swept up into the Wakanda business, so I think Ross would be replaced after the events of Black Panther.

Erik Selvig

Erik Selvig has been around since Phase One and his big brain has helped to save the day on more than one occasion. However, he just might be a little too smart. Not only was Selvig able to build a portal machine from the Tessaract but he was also able to nullify the effects of the Aether in Thor: The Dark World. It's possible for a human to be that smart, but it would make sense if he was actually a brilliant Skrull science guy. If he were a Skrull then that means that he was able to study the Tesseract for an unknown amount of time, getting vital data on a potential resource. He also worked closely with the Avengers, putting him in the position of a mole.

Hank Pym

This one is admittedly a long shot, but it would certainly be an impactful reveal. For starters, Hank Pym is one of the smartest men on the planet and he keeps a portal to another dimension in the back of a van. He's definitely a worthwhile target to replace. If Hank were a Skrull, that would hit fans right where they live. He's obviously a big character in the Ant-Man franchise and people have grown attached to him. I'm kind of breaking my no love interest rule here because 90% of Hank's motivations are to be reunited with his wife, Janet, but that doesn't stop him from getting replaced after Janet is rescued. The Skrull Hank can then avoid getting too friendly with her. Plus, Hank Pym was a Skrull in the comic book as well.

Maria Hill

Maria Hill is a perfect candidate to be a Skrull. She's not had a lot of spotlight but she's recognizable to fans. Hill is also a small enough character where it doesn't break continuity if she was a Skrull the whole time. Iron Man can't be a Skrull because then we've been following a fraud for 11 years, but Hill doesn't have that problem. She's also Fury's right-hand woman and is privy to a lot of information. It's a no-brainer for a Skrull to assume her position to gain intel and influence to prepare for the invasion. The only drawback is that Hill might be too obvious a suspect to be a secret Skrull.

Queen Ramonda

Wakanda is the most powerful country in the world and pretty much dominates in all categories. They have the best technology, the best weapons, the best defenses, and the best warriors. Wakanda already proved it's capable of matching an alien invasion, so of course it would be the number one obstacle to remove for the Skrulls. The best way to do that is to get someone in a powerful position on the inside, and there aren't too many more powerful than the queen. Queen Ramonda has the ear of the king and is privy to all the goings-on of Wakanda. Plus, it would be a major blow to Black Panther to find out his mom was replaced by an alien.

Sharon Carter

Again, it looks like I am breaking my love interest rule, but I don't think sharing one kiss really counts. Cap moves slow, people! While Sharon Carter's position as a CIA agent probably makes her a suitable target, it's really her proximity to Captain America that makes her valuable to the Skrull. By replacing one of Cap's friends, the Skrulls would be easily able to measure Cap's movements and gain access to his inner circle. Of course, all of this is assuming that Cap makes it out of Avengers: Endgame alive, which seems...unlikely at this point.

War Machine

War Machine as a Skrull makes a shocking amount of sense when you really think about it. If you were a Skrull, you would probably try to assimilate into the U.S. military. Maybe you also decide to befriend a notable arms dealer and covertly gain access to his cache of advanced weapons. Then maybe you get lucky enough to actually get one of his battle suits all to your own. And if you're going to be a superhero, then you might as well hang out with all of them and join their ranks, collecting intel and weaknesses all the while. It could be that Rhodey was just playing us all this time and rolling with the punches as they come. It would certainly be a gut punch to both fans and Iron Man if this beloved supporting character has been a villain the entire time.

I'm still a little skeptical on whether Marvel should make a Secret Invasion movie after learning more about the Skrulls and their situation, but the people at Marvel are also much smarter than me. Maybe they already know how it would work! If that's the case, this list features some prime choices for secret Skrulls that can make us doubt everything we know. We're still a long way off from a Secret Invasion movie, but the long game is Marvel's specialty.

Fifty Shades Scenes That Weren't Sexy To Film In Real Life

Fifty Shades Scenes That Weren't Sexy To Film In Real Life

It’s been a little over a year since Universal released the final movie in the Fifty Shades trilogy, Fifty Shades Freed. We’ve said our big screen goodbyes to Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele and author E.L. James has moved on to a different book series. However, the fascination surrounding the “kinky fuckery” between the two characters has not particularly waned.

As Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed were released, we’ve learned plenty about the ins and outs of making these romantic films and to be honest, a lot of times the scenes weren’t so sexy in real life.

In particular, we hate to burst your bubble if you were a fan of Fifty Shades Freed’s big ice cream scene, but don’t take it from me...

That Ice Cream Scene

If you caught Fifty Shades Freed, you’ve already seen a moment between Christian and Ana when she’s looking for ice cream in the kitchen. He ends up thrusting his partner onto a table in the kitchen and uses it for some naughty play.

As it turns out, however, Jamie Dornan wouldn’t recommend it. He told NBC that the scene may have made ice cream more popular but it hasn’t made ice cream more popular with him.

It might help the sale of ice cream after Freed. I wouldn’t recommend that myself; I think it was quite sticky. It gets dry and sticky quite quickly, the icec ream. I wasn’t a big fan of it.

In addition, in order to amp up the sexy factor, the scene actually shot at night, meaning both Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson were tired, trying to pretend they were engaging in a super stimulating shot and basically just dealing with getting dirty in the process. According to Jamie Dornan, that’s all in a days work, however. He said:

It was a bit of a palavar in real life. Messy and cold and I think we shot that as a night shoot. It was the middle of the night. We were tired. Who cares for us as long as it sort of looks sexy in the final thing. Who cares? I can go shower at home.

So, yeah. Ice cream 1, actors 0 after that scene.

Gluing On Underwear

Being naked onscreen generally doesn’t involve actually being naked onscreen. Both Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson have talked about wearing modesty underwear while filming sex scenes—Dornan even calls his a “wee bag”—however, it’s Dakota Johnson’s modesty thong that sounds particularly uncomfortable.

The actress previously revealed she actually had to glue the dang thing on with a sticky substance to keep her private parts from showing on set for everyone to see. It didn’t work all the time. As she put it:

Oh yeah, Jamie's little pouch. It's super not glamorous--it's really unsexy. He wore that, and I had these sort of strapless thongs that had glue on them. It's not glue, but it's sticky. They're, like, basically if it were a nipple pastie, but underwear. But it's only sticky at the top, it's not sticky the whole way. It would also come off because the adhesive would wear out, so then they would superglue it to my body so that it wouldn't fall off.

Yes, they would sometimes superglue the modesty thong to her body in order to make it work, as Tim Gunn would say. Yikes.

Anything With A Whip

Ahead of the release of Fifty Shades of Grey, Jamie Dornan was happy to talk about the odd types of training he had to do for the movie, which involved working at learning to use the whip for scenes. It’s a skill set he told Variety he is not talented at, leading those scenes to be decidedly unsexy on set.

In fact, to illustrate this point, he even compared whip usage to fly fishing.

There’s probably a technique to using a whip, I wasn’t talented at it. But I got there in the end. It’s really like fly fishing.

The director of the first film, Sam Taylor-Johnson, even tried her hardest to keep the actor from harming himself and others on the Vancouver set. She also said:

Jamie, how can you make something so straightforward so hard? Why would you pick [the whip] up like that? I think there was a bit of rope burn. I’d have to remind Jamie to hold back with the crop.

Would you rather be sticky with ice cream or dealing with rope burn for several days? As Dornan said about Fifty Shades Freed, with the ice cream, at least you can always shower.

The Wedding Scene

Love can be really sexy, so it was surprising to learn that Christian and Ana's nuptials were anything but for those filming. Faking a wedding apparently was just as goofy and off-putting as some of the other stuff Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan had to do on set. In fact, the two kept dissolving into giggles, which made shooting the Fifty Shades Freed wedding scene particularly challenging. According to Jamie Dornan's account of filming,

It's very strange saying vows to someone when it's not real. When we were rehearsing it, we were sort of giggling quite a lot, because it just seemed so silly. But then, obviously, by the time the cameras were rolling we were in character and it was fun.

Dakota Johnson looked more fabulous than she looked sexy in this scene anyway, and while I personally dig Jamie Dornan in a suit, I think most people probably prefer the Dornan of the shirtless variety, at least in these films. Still, due to the nature of the scene and how it stood out in stark contrast to some of the other scenes, the wedding ranks highly in unsexy scenes to film. At least this one wasn't sticky.

In addition, this one was decidedly more difficult to shoot than you might guess, especially considering the scenes appear at the very beginning of the film, before the couple can really get into any hanky panky on their honeymoon.

While leads Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson have continued to do press for new projects in the time since Fifty Shades Freed hit theaters -- A Private War and Robin Hood in Dornan’s case and Suspiria and Bad Times at the El Royale in Johnson’s case -- they still get plenty of questions about the four+ years they spent playing a kinky couple. I’m sure we’ll learn much more regarding the ins and outs of the Fifty Shades films in the time moving forward, and we’ll be here every step of the way.

In the meantime, you can learn about the new project E.L. James will be embarking on next with our full guide.

Regina Hall Really Loved Playing A Bad Boss In Little

Regina Hall Really Loved Playing A Bad Boss In Little

Many of us know Regina Hall as Brenda from the hilarious Scary Movie franchise, but if her newest character ran our workplaces, we’d be using that title in a brand new context. In Little, the comedy actress plays a rich tech entrepreneur who leaves her staff shaking in their seats with her crazy demands and deep-cutting insults – so much so that she must relive her middle school days to change her ways.

Regina Hall had such a blast playing the nightmarish bad boss to Issa Rae’s April, it actually surprised her how much so. Here’s what she said in my recent interview with her:

She’s so rotten. It was really a fun character to play. I have to say, I enjoyed being a little monster. No one would behave that insane in real life so I thought I would have a great time, I didn’t think it would come so instinctively, but yeah it was fun to do.

The actress certainly had the chance to go over-the-top for the comedy and say some vile things to her staff in the film. This included tearing them down during a pitch meeting and even getting on the bad side of a young girl, who ends up magically transforming her into a 13-year-old, played by Black-ish’s Marsai Martin.

Regina Hall served as an executive producer on Little along with her younger counterpart, Marsai Martin, who has now made history as the youngest in Hollywood history to earn the prestigious behind-the-scenes role. Martin pitched the film inspired by the Tom Hanks-led Big to Will Packer Productions when she was just 10 years old and had a hand in picking Regina Hall and Issa Rae as her costars.

While Regina Hall only stars in the beginning and end of the film, she gets some scene-stealing moments as a bad boss similar to Meryl Streep’s character in The Devil Wears Prada. The actress also apparently made sure to make it onto set for Luke James’ steamy dancing scene (according to director/writer Tina Gordon, she flew in just for it!)

Little opened last weekend with a handful of other newcomers such as Hellboy, After and Missing Link, and bested all of them at the box office with a $15 million weekend. Little was just behind Shazam!, which took home the No. 1 spot at $25 million during its second weekend. It’s a modest entrance for the studio that made the Ride Along films, Think Like a Man and Girls Trip, but altogether it wasn’t a solid run for movie theaters as a whole.

As more films hit theaters this weekend such as Breakthrough, Penguins and The Curse of La Llorona, we’ll have to see how Little (or Big) of an impression the ensemble comedy makes on audiences. Either way, it looks like Regina Hall and the cast had tons of fun making it, especially when it came to exploring her bad boss side.