Why Jai Courtney Signed On For His Alita: Battle Angel Cameo

Why Jai Courtney Signed On For His Alita: Battle Angel Cameo

Alita: Battle Angel was a movie with a lot of ambition. It was a grand film with a huge budget that was designed very much to be the first film in a franchise. It was a movie so big that some of the film's biggest names had little more than cameo roles. One of those cameos was played by Jai Courtney. The role is so small that you'd be forgiven for missing it entirely, but the actor says that he was happy to do it simply because Robert Rodriguez was the man who asked him. According to the actor, he agreed to do it after getting a call from the director who told him...

There's this role, it's a little small on paper, but if this thing blows up, I'll need someone who I can rely on when we revisit it. And I was like, 'Fuck man, of course!' For Robert Rodriguez, I'm going to go down there and do it.

It seems that Jai Courtney had read for a couple of different roles in Alita: Battle Angel but, while he and Rodriguez wanted to work together, it seemed Alita wasn't quite the right time. However, Rodriguez then turned to Courtney when he needed somebody to fill the role of Motorball star Jashugan.

It seems that while Courtney's role was tiny in Alita: Battle Angel, the idea is that there is more to the character that we would see when and if sequels to the movie ever happen.

Of course, at this point, it's difficult to tell if a sequel is a real possibility or not. Alita struggled domestically, only bringing in about $85 million, but it did much better overseas and has a total gross of just over $400 million.

That a solid total number, but due to the film's fairly expensive budget, it's been suggested the movie needed to hit $500 million to be profitable, and it's clearly well below that mark. There's clearly an audience who got behind Alita, but it just may not be quite big enough. Although, one assumes that sequels could potentially be less expensive to produce since much of the technical groundwork has been done, so perhaps follow ups are possible.

Although, the other issue is that the first movie was a Fox production, which means that any subsequent movies would have to get the green light by Disney, which means convincing an entirely new set of executives to make your movie.

Courtney tells Business Insider that he has no clue what the future might hold for Alita and that he has zero expectations in that regard. It seems he didn't take the role for the sequel potential, but just to work with Robert Rodriguez, though one assumes if the sequel does happen he'll be even happier to have the chance to work with Rodriguez again.

Jai Courtney wasn't the only brief cameo that clearly was inserted because of future potential. Edward Norton also appeared in the film, as the man one assumes will be the main antagonist of any future movies.

In the modern movie landscape the franchise is king, and so a project like Alita was clearly always meant to be the first of many. Having said that, the movie practically requires a sequel simply because of the way it ended. It didn't simply leave the possibility of more story open, it left its own story before it was over.

It will be interesting to see if these cameos will ever get a chance to be fulfilled, or if these appearances in Alita: Battle Angel will just be interesting moments of trivia in a franchise that never happened.

Avengers: Endgame TV Spot Gives First Look At Valkyrie

Avengers: Endgame TV Spot Gives First Look At Valkyrie

Thor's friend from work is back! Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie debuted in Thor: Ragnarok but was not seen in Avengers: Infinity War. It was later confirmed by the Russo Brothers that she escaped with other surviving Asgardians. Apparently she survived The Decimation, too. She got her own Avengers: Endgame poster, and it was in color like the other lucky 50%.

And now one of the many new Avengers: Endgame TV spots has given us a very quick glimpse of Valkyrie, live and in color. She's actually the first one we see in the promo:

Nice! Looking forward to seeing more of her role in Avengers 4. It was suspected that she would return, especially when she was spotted with Ragnarok (and Men in Black: International) co-star Chris Hemsworth in September 2018, joining him when he flew to Atlanta for Avengers 4 reshoots.

Of course, since we're talking about the Russos and the MCU, we have to leave room for misdirection. It would be cruel to give Valkyrie fans that glimpse of her in the new TV spot and only learn that it was another mislead. But it does sound like she'll be back in some fashion, and Marvel did give her a new Endgame poster. Maybe we'll also see the return of the rest of the Asgardians. Will they join the fight against Thanos?

One of the most exciting things about Avengers: Endgame is the number of new characters working together. Even Avengers: Infinity War didn't cover every base. We have characters like Rhodey and Black Widow going to space for the first time, alongside Guardians Nebula and Rocket Raccoon, as Thor bonds with "new girl" Captain Marvel.

Speaking of Captain Marvel, actresses Brie Larson and Tessa Thompson are good friends off-screen, and they've been loving fans' social media posts pairing Valkyrie and Carol Danvers. So maybe fans can expect to see their characters at least meet on screen? Thompson has brought up the idea of Marvel women getting together to fight folks and hang out in space. Maybe she'll get her wish soon.

Continuing on that note, Marvel Studios also released another Endgame TV spot -- it's almost too much now! -- and this one was heavy on the foreshadowing of endings and goodbyes. It also focused a lot on Black Widow finding a family for the first time with the Avengers. She has her own movie coming up, but will it be after she loses her Avenger "family"?

Avengers: Endgame isn't quite the end of MCU Phase 3, as we initially thought, but it does seem to mark the endgames for some original stars and their characters. Chris Hemsworth may be on that boat, although he has said he'd be happy to return as Thor whenever they need him. If Valkyrie is in Endgame, she'd probably connect with Thor at some point. If the rest of the Asgardians return as well, will Thor want to leave to help start a new life with them, after they do whatever they do with Thanos? I have been avoiding any spoilers, so all speculation is valid to me.

Avengers: Endgame opens in theaters this Friday, April 26, as one of the many movies playing on the big screen through 2019.

Ma Is Hilarious, But That Probably Wasn't The Movie's Intent

Ma Is Hilarious, But That Probably Wasn't The Movie's Intent

Warning! The following contains spoilers regarding Ma. Read at your own risk!

As I drove to the theater for my screening of Ma, I was half regretting my decision to attend. Sunday nights are for relaxing, and seeing a horror movie in which a woman befriends and then torments teenagers didn't seem like a calm and relaxing way to prepare for the work week ahead.

As it turns out, I was completely wrong. Ma is the hardest I've laughed in a theater in some time, and though I still have yet to see Booksmart, it may be one of the funniest movies I've seen in 2019. Unfortunately, that's probably not really the point of the movie, which was billed and presented itself as a horror movie. So, why then was I laughing as opposed to jumping out of my theater seat? Let's dive in.

Ma Is An Objectively Hilarious Character

Ma does a solid job of making Sue Ann appear unhinged, and the story of how she got to where she is laid all that out perfectly. Where it struggles, however, is that her more manic moments in the film portray her less as a frightening sociopath and more of a somewhat hilarious individual. Whether she unexpectedly pulled a gun on a teen or karate kicked a pile of beer cans over, I was laughing.

For what it's worth, I think this is more a product of the film's tone and story than anything related to Octavia Spencer. She did bring an intensity to the role I haven't seen in her past work, but those scenes lack the music or build up of tension needed to make those moments legitimately scary. Instead, there might be a chuckle or two as Ma frequently comes out of left field with some actions that come out of nowhere!

The Gore In Ma Is More Cartoonish Than Frightening

Just to get this out of the way right now, Ma is not a movie I would consider to be excessively gory. Most of the violence happens in the latter part of the feature, but hoo boy, when it arrives it really makes an entrance. Fans see a pretty brutal death to kick things up, and things really escalate from that point on.

As the header states though, it's not at all scary. One death feels straight up like something out of a Final Destination movie, and the rest are weird, but almost cartoonish in how they go down. Those who haven't seen the movie need only wait until the final scenes of Ma to understand. It's necessarily as weird as the paint scene (you'll know when you watch), but just an odd display of violence when things seemed more grounded before.

The Teens In Ma Aren't Sympathetic And Make Terrible Decisions

One thing that makes Ma especially funny to me was the lack of emotion I felt towards the teenage cast, who also somehow fell below the standard for teens that make bad decisions in horror films. Like, it's one thing to do the stereotypical trope of running upstairs when being chased by a mass murderer, but these characters do that equivalent while adding "don't forget your knife!" on the way up.

Now, that situation doesn't literally happen, but it might as well have as it's pretty clear from the get go that Sue Ann is bad news. Yet they continue to show up at her house, which can certainly make the audience feel more like "well that's what you get" rather than, "oh poor kids." It also doesn't help that we only the smallest details about each character, which in turn could leave folks largely unaffected by what happens to them.

Ma Has A Good Deal Of Seemingly Intentional Humor

For all the moments in Ma that are unintentionally funny, there are some moments that were brought in, I'm assuming, to lighten the mood with some actual humor. At least, that's what we can assume when it comes to Allison Janney's Dr. Brown, whose sole purpose throughout the movie is to be on Sue Ann's ass whenever she's slacking off on the job.

Another bizarre character was Dominic Burgess' Stu, a relatively minor character with a performance that really sticks out and makes you think he has a larger part to play. Alas he doesn't, although the effort he put into the role really has me wondering if he maybe had more scenes that were cut later in development? Whatever the case, characters like this elevate the humor exponentially, but drastically reduce the creepiness and horror elements.

Ma's Ending Is Just So Damn Bizarre

Massive spoiler warning for those that don't want to know the ending of the movie. You've been warned! Sue Ann/Ma ends up drugging all the teens and keeping them in their basement, and after some unique punishments for most of the characters, Maggie's mom Erica arrives with Stu and the house goes up in flames. Maggie stabs Ma in order to rescue Ma's secret daughter (which is the twist I'm assuming promotions are touting).

Ma is stabbed and everybody else escapes and chills in the front yard in shock of what all happened. Meanwhile, Ma comes to in the burning house and casually watches everyone from the window of her living room. Again, the house is on fire, but she decides to head upstairs, curl up in bed with the dead man that orchestrated her sexual assault when she was younger and wait for the flames to take her. Fade to black, credits roll.

There's no resolution and no falling action; Ma just dips in its most pivotal scene like it has somewhere to be. It's arguably the most hilarious part of the movie, because we're left to wonder what the hell happens in the minutes that follow. Alas, it's an answer that may only come if Ma 2 gets made, which I'd honestly be on board with. Let Ma escape and bump the camp up even further in a sequel, and I'm 100% there.

Annabelle Comes Home Is Definitely Not A Horror Comedy, But It Will Have Funny Moments

Ma is currently in theaters right now for those who haven't seen it yet. Those that have can feel free to share their thoughts in the comments, and let us know if they'd be up for Ma 2.

That Moviepass Competitor Sinemia Is Shutting Down

That Moviepass Competitor Sinemia Is Shutting Down

There was a time, not all that long ago, when it looked like the movie subscription service was the wave of the future. While MoviePass was the first service to grab headlines, they weren't the only game in town, and when MoviePass began to falter, Sinemia came in to try and pick up the pieces by offering an alternative to movie lovers. However, that alternative is now no more as Sinemia has announced they are ceasing operations within the U.S.

MoviePass became the hottest thing at the theater a couple years ago when the price of it's unlimited viewing option dropped to $9.95 a month in price. Subscription numbers went through the roof. However, eventually the users that took advantage of the service to an extreme degree began to be a drain on the service. This led to changes in the plan that ran the gamut from movie blackouts to price increases to limitations on the number of screenings you could view in a given time period.

When that happened, the people who signed up for the original plan began to get upset and Sinemia tried to pick up those customers. While Sinemia did not have the same unlimited plan at the time, it would come later, it did have options, including choices that included 3D and large format screens, something MoviePass didn't offer at the time.

However, as Sinemia began to grow, it began to have growing pains of its own. The service saw outages that frustrated customers and they also dealt with other customers service issues that came from the service's increase in popularity.

More recently, Sinemia was hit on two fronts by a pair of lawsuits, one came from MoviePass and claimed patent infringement. The other came in the form of a class action suit from customers with a litany of complaints including hidden fees and cancellations without refunds.

In a letter posted on Sinemia's homepage, the site admits that the company simply doesn't have the money necessary to both meet increased operations costs and the current legal issues the company is facing.

The U.S. isn't the only country Sinemia currently does business in. You can also use the service in Canada, the UK, Australia, and Turkey, where the company is based. The letter only states that Sinemia is ending U.S. operations, so it's possible the company will continue forward in other countries.

While Sinemia tried to be an alternative to MoviePass, it has now folded and MoviePass, while the company has certainly been through many trials and tribulations itself, still stands.

Many of the major theater chains in the U.S. like AMC and Cinemark have instituted their own subscription system, which largely appear to be successful.

There is clearly consumer interest in the subscription idea, but there are just as clearly some significant hurdles to making it work, at least for third party companies. Where there is interest, you can be sure there will be attempts to capture that market. Will MoviePass, or somebody else, ever figure out how to make money while still giving consumers the value they need?

Chris Hemsworth Put Snickers Bars In His Daughter's Shoes To Sneak Her Onto Disneyland's Tower Of Terror

Chris Hemsworth Put Snickers Bars In His Daughter's Shoes To Sneak Her Onto Disneyland's Tower Of Terror

If you've ever been a small child, emphasis on the "small," at a theme park, or brought one with you, then you likely know the pain that comes with height requirements on attractions. It sucks when you can't go on a ride you want to, and it sucks for the parents of that child too, who want their kids to have a great time. Chris Hemsworth recently revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live that when his daughter was too short to go on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disneyland a couple years ago, he took matters into his own hands, by stuffing her shoes. According to Hemsworth...

I took my daughter on [Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout] a couple of years ago when it previously called the Tower of Terror. And she wasn’t tall enough, and she was really upset. And I was like, ‘No, forget this. Come here.’ So I grabbed a couple Snickers bars and things, and slammed it in the back of her shoe under her heel. So I propped her up, she was like this much short, walked up, was like, ‘What about now?’ So they’re like, ‘Okay, in you come.’ Snickers work.

Basically, Chris Hemsworth created make shift high heels for his daughter that pushed up the back of her feet enough to raise his daughter's height to the necessary limit. Clearly, she was really close to the limit, which is 40" if you're keeping score. I'm not sure what to think about those cast members if they had only measured her moments before and found her too short, maybe they decided they didn't want to make Thor mad twice.

Hemsworth appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live along side his Avengers: Endgame co-stars Paul Rudd, Scarlett Johansson, and Robert Downey Jr. They were less than impressed with the actor's tale, pointing out that these height requirements exist for a reason and he shouldn't be commended for subverting the system.

To his credit, Chris Hemsworth understood the reason for the requirements as soon as his daughter actually got on the ride, as it seems the restraint system was not sufficient to hold her in place.

It gets worse. So I was sitting in the chair, and this thing, it’s I don’t know how many hundreds of feet high and whatever. We’re at the top and I’m looking at her. She’s strapped in, the seat is massive on her. And I’m like, ‘We beat the system, honey!’ And then it drops and she’s like [slightly raises himself up and makes weird noise]. I grab on to her, she’s screaming the whole way down, like a cat. I was like, ‘Maybe there’s a reason that there’s a height size.’ So don’t do that. She’s fine, she’s well.

The restraints on the Tower of Terror (now Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout) are nothing more than a simple seat belt, but since the ride only moves up and down, little more is needed. I'm not sure why Chris Hemsworth's daughter found herself sliding out of the seat. Perhaps because she was smaller, there was actually space between her lap and the belt, leading to her moving upwards when the ride was pulled down.

As somebody who took longer than normal to reach all of the Disneyland height requirements, I can appreciate the desire to circumvent the rules. Still, one should not condone such things and it's good that Chris Hemsworth now understands the importance of these rules. Of course, when the new Marvel themed land opens up next to Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout, one certainly wonders if Thor might go looking for Snickers bars once again.

You can check out the Avengers full appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live in the video below.

The Russo Brothers Confirm A Major Captain America Theory We Had After Avengers: Endgame

The Russo Brothers Confirm A Major Captain America Theory We Had After Avengers: Endgame

The following story contains spoilers from Avengers: Endgame.

When the latest Marvel Studios movie drew to a close, Captain America (Chris Evans) embarked on one final mission. He agreed to be the one who traveled back in time to return the Infinity Stones from the moments in which they were borrowed, thereby eliminating any multiverses that might have sprung away from the main timeline.

In doing so, this means that Cap had to travel to the remote planet of Vormir to return the Soul Stone. And that should mean that Steve Rogers would encounter – for the first time in decades – the arch-nemesis who helped bury him in the ice way back in 1945: Red Skull. We have seen the Skull in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, where he stands guard over the pit where a sacrifice must be made to retrieve the Stone. So when ReelBlend sat down with Joe and Anthony Russo to talk Endgame spoilers, we asked if this meant that Cap encountered Red Skull again, and what the rules of Soul Stone returns actually are:

Joe Russo: He would have to encounter Red Skull. And nobody knows what the rules are when you return the Soul Stone.

Anthony Russo: Nobody knows. But knowing Red Skull, he probably has a no-money-back policy.

Captain America’s final trip through time is the biggest gap in storytelling that Avengers: Endgame doesn’t bother to address. Hulk sends Cap back in time using the technology that Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) perfected. And he expects to bring Steve Rogers back… only, that doesn’t happen.

Instead, Bucky (Sebastian Stan) and Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) notice that Old Man Rogers is waiting for him. It turns out, after returning the Stones, Cap decided to go back in time and live his life in full with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), and choosing not to elaborate on the steps that he took to bring the Stones back.

That leaves a LOT of story left to tell, and Marvel actually has ways to tell it. After all, with Disney+ as a new streaming service, Marvel fans already expect to see new stories branching out from Avengers: Endgame starring Tom Hiddleston as Loki, as well as Stan and Mackie. Why couldn’t Chris Evans choose to keep playing Captain America, just going on adventures in the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s and beyond?

Also, Marvel Studios easily could bring back the One Shots that they used to include on DVDs and Blu-rays. Who doesn’t want to see a short film that shows Steve encountering Red Skull, one last time?

The Russo brothers confirm that the meeting takes place in their version of the story, but they stop short from telling us when we might ever see it happen. To hear the rest of our conversation with the brothers, where we talk all things SPOILERY for Avengers: Endgame, press play on this bonus segment of the ReelBlend podcast.

As for Avengers: Endgame, that blockbuster is shattering records left and right, passing $2 billion in 11 days. Staggering. Have you seen it yet? What did you think?

All The Major Awards Bohemian Rhapsody Won

All The Major Awards Bohemian Rhapsody Won

Last year, Bohemian Rhapsody dethroned 2015’s Straight Outta Compton to become the highest grossing music biopic of all time with its $902 million worldwide box office haul. It’s no surprise a musical epic about the formation, struggles and success of Queen was a blockbuster, the British rock band is one of the most recognized acts across the globe.

The movie also found triumph stacking up a ton of distinguished accolades during award season despite average reviews from critics about the film’s “paint-by-numbers” approach to the band’s bold legacy. Overall, Bohemian Rhapsody was nominated for 57 awards in over 30 ceremonies during the star-studded movie season and was decorated with 21 total wins.

Now that the gold glitter has settled from Oscar season, let’s break down some of the movie’s biggest award wins. Pro tip: Play Queen’s “We Are The Champions” as you read on:

Bohemian Rhapsody At The 2019 Golden Globes

While Bohemian Rhapsody was in award conversation from the beginning, bets weren’t high on the biopic taking the cake for award season’s highest merits until it took home some key trophies at the Golden Globes during the Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh hosted movie and television show recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press. The movie was nominated for two awards and won them both. Take a look:

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, Rami Malek

Best Motion Picture - Drama

Rami Malek offered up a transformative performance of a lifetime as rock icon Freddie Mercury, not just donning fake teeth to resemble the frontman, but replicating his mannerisms and his on-stage energy (almost shot-for-shot in the film’s final Live Aid scene). He won over Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born), Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate), Lucas Hedges (Boy Erased) and John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman).

Bohemian Rhapsody was nominated for the most distinguished award of the night “Best Picture” alongside Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther, Spike Lee’s BlackKklansman, Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk and Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born in the drama category over the comedy/musical category, which Green Book won for.

It was certainly a surprise win, especially since the movie has the lowest Rotten Tomato score of 61% among its fellow nominees in the 89% - 97% range. The win showed the movie was being taken seriously by voters going forward gave the movie a huge boost for the remainder of Oscar season.

Bohemian Rhapsody At the 2019 Screen Actors Guild Awards

A few weeks later, the movie about rock’s “Killer Queen” took the 25th SAG Awards with similar accolades then what had just won at the Golden Globes on the board for the film: recognition for Malek and the award show’s own version of “Best Picture” – “Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture”. Here’s what Bohemian Rhapsody won that night:

Outstanding Performance by an Male Actor in a Leading Role - Rami Malek

He did it again. The Mr. Robot actor even won over Christian Bale’s Dick Cheney performance, who won in the comedy Best Actor category at the Golden Globes this time around, really proving he could sweep this whole thing. The film’s other nomination went to the cast of Black Panther who made history as the first Marvel film to receive such accolade and the highest-grossing film to ever win the SAG award.

Bohemian Rhapsody At the 2019 BAFTA Awards

The Queen movie then braved the British Academy of Film and Television Arts award show at Royal Albert Hall in London with a whopping seven nominations in the running including Best Costume Design, Best Make Up/Hair, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Leading Actor and Outstanding British Film of the Year. Check out which one’s the movie won below:

Best Leading Actor - Rami Malek

Best Sound - John Casali, Tim Cavagin, Nina Hartstone, Paul Massey and John Warhurst

Once again, no other male actor could beat out Rami’s Freddie Mercury portrayal. This time the movie was also recognized for “Best Sound” for all the work that was put into creating a realistic portrayal of various Queen performances, using a mixture of Freddie’s voice, Rami’s and even an expert Queen-sounding YouTube star. This award gave Bohemian Rhapsody a leg up in one technical category going into the Oscars, though Netflix’s Roma and The Favourite primarily won over the movie in other categories.

The 2019 Academy Awards Bohemian Rhapsody Won

Then came Hollywood’s biggest night and the official cap on award season: The Oscars. Bohemian Rhapsody’s award reign opened up the hostless show with a energetic kickoff performance by Queen and new frontman Adam Lambert. The movie had five awards on the line that night. After Bohemian Rhapsody had previously not been considered as an Oscar’s favorite it's gained traction from ceremonies gave the movie a overall triumphant conclusion.

Best Performance By An Actor in Leading Role - Rami Malek

Best Achievement in Film Editing - John Ottman

Best Achievement in Sound Editing - John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing - Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin, John Casali

Bohemian Rhapsody won everyone of their nominations except for Best Picture, which was now infamously given to Green Book. The film swept a lot of the Academy’s technical awards, with more nods to its use of sound and most controversially for its Film Editing, which has been since criticized for its whiplash cuts in one particular restaurant scene.

Rami Malek’s performance as Freddie Mercury is clearly the MVP of Bohemian Rhapsody, which early critics of the film still undeniably praised, even if they were bothered by other elements of the movie. Take a look at the actor’s last hurrah “Another One Bites The Dust” first Oscar win from the big night below:

What a success story Bohemian Rhapsody was! The film itself went through its own roadblocks before hitting all these milestones such as Bryan Singer’s firing as director late in the project’s filming and it received early criticism for not exploring all the facets of the band. Now looking back, Bohemian Rhapsody is a grand celebration of the late rock icon Freddie Mercury, his Queen band mates and the lasting impact of their music and story.