The Disney and Fox Merger Finally Has A Closing Date

The Disney and Fox Merger Finally Has A Closing Date

The Disney/Fox merger has been drawing nearer, but it’s finally come time for one giant studio to swallow another. Disney has officially announced that its $71.3 billion purchase of 21st Century Fox will close on March 20. Jiminy Crickets!

After the House of Mouse received its last major approval from regulators in Mexico, the company announced the formal date for the closing process, per Variety. The deal between the two major studios is certainly a huge game-changer for the entire media landscape and will officially start taking shape next Wednesday.

Walt Disney Studios will soon have control over Fox’s film, television studios and cable channels, including National Geographic and FX. Disney will also obtain Fox’s 30% holdings in Hulu, in addition to its own 30%, giving the studio a 60% majority share and own 39% in European satellite company, Sky. However, Disney was not approved by government regulators to take over Fox’s regional sports channels since it already owns ESPN.

Disney will also assume over $13 billion in net debt from Fox ,and the merger is expected to prompt as many as 4000 layoffs in positions that overlap between the two companies. The inception of a new entity of the Fox Corporation that will include the assets that will not be part of the Disney deal will also launch in line with the closing date of the Disney/Fox merger.

The closing of the deal could be good news for Marvel fans excited for the X-Men and the Fantastic Four to potentially be part of the same family as Disney’s MCU. Some of Fox’s major franchises such as the Alien, Predator, Kingsman, Die Hard and Night of the Museum would also be under Disney’s new umbrella and could potentially have a presence in Disney’s theme parks in the future.

Fox joins Disney’s holdings just as the company gears up for the launch of its own streaming service, Disney+, later this year, which is set to include every film in the Disney library along, as well original movies and television shows from the Star Wars, the Marvel universe and more.

Disney CEO and Chairman Bob Iger has reportedly taken a pay cut in light of the merger, as a $500,000 annual increase to his base salary and $8 million increase in bonus was agreed to be eliminated from his paycheck – though his approximately $15 million salary still stands as one of the highest salaries for a media executive.

Disney is heading into perhaps one of its biggest years ever as three big live-action remakes, three MCU films (including an impressive $455 worldwide opening start for Captain Marvel over the weekend), two huge animated sequels and Star Wars: Episode IX are coming out, along with the opening of Galaxy’s Edge in the parks. The closing of the Fox deal only expands this. Mickey Mouse means business… and perhaps world domination?

Apparently The Suicide Squad Is Bringing Back Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang

Apparently The Suicide Squad Is Bringing Back Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang

While not a hit on the critical spectrum, 2016’s Suicide Squad was quite the commercial success for the DC Extended Universe, taking in nearly $747 million worldwide. With a financial performance like that, it’s no wonder that Warner Bros gave the green light to a sequel, although now that James Gunn is writing and directing The Suicide Squad, the project has been described as more of a reboot. However, it can’t be fully classified as such, as we’ll apparently be reuniting with some familiar faces, including Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang. The actor confirmed his involvement in The Suicide Squad thusly:

We're getting ready to shoot in a few months' time. There's not much else I can reveal about it but, yeah, you'll be seeing Boomerang back for sure.

Like his comic book counterpart, Captain Boomerang, real name Digger Harkness, was one of the original members of the DCEU’s Suicide Squad, and while he was definitely the most cowardly of them, he managed to survive their first mission against Enchantress and Incubus. Evidently Amanda Waller or whoever is currently heading up Task Force X still sees value in him, as Jai Courtney confirmed to Business Insider that he’ll be present for The Suicide Squad, also saying that though the movie will be a “different” experience, it will also be “great.”

Assuming the report that Margot Robbie will reprise Harley Quinn in The Suicide Squad is also correct, that makes two Suicide Squad actors who are back for the sequel/relaunch. Deadshot will also return, but due to scheduling conflicts, Will Smith has vacated the role and Idris Elba is succeeding him as Floyd Lawton. There’s still no word if Viola Davis will reprise Amanda Waller, but Joel Kinnaman reportedly won’t reprise Rick Flagg. Beyond that, it’s been said that The Suicide Squad will primarily consist of brand-new characters, but Courtney and Robbie returning, as well as Deadshot still being present, provides some connective tissue to the first Suicide Squad movie, thus ensuring The Suicide Squad isn’t an actual reboot akin to Batman Begins or The Amazing Spider-Man.

Although Jai Courtney is the second actor to play Captain Boomerang in live action (the first being Nick Tarabay on Arrow), Courtney’s version is definitely the version more well-known to audiences, with a lot of folks probably learning about the character’s existence in Suicide Squad. Given that Courtney also has some star power on his side, it makes sense why he’s being brought back for this follow-up. We might not ever see Boomerang clash with The Flash again, but at least he can still lend his unique talents to this black ops team in exchange for a reduced prison sentence… provided his antics don’t compromise the mission.

The Suicide Squad charges into theaters on August 6, 2021. Don’t forget to look through our DC movies guide to learn what else is coming down this superhero franchise pipeline, as well as our 2019 release schedule to plan your silver screen experiences this year accordingly.

The Curse Of La Llorona Reviews Are Up, See What Critics Are Saying

The Curse Of La Llorona Reviews Are Up, See What Critics Are Saying

Grown organically out of James Wan’s 2013 film The Conjuring, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema’s Conjuring Universe has become a major force and box office success during horror's ongoing boom period. The supernatural series has grossed $1.57 billion worldwide and it is still growing. The newest film in the franchise, although it isn’t really being advertised as such, is this weekend’s The Curse of La Llorona.

From future director of The Conjuring 3 Michael Chaves, The Curse of La Llorona dives into Mexican folklore for a tale of a mother trying to protect her children from a deadly spirit. Reviews for the film are up, so is The Curse of La Llorona a worthy entry in The Conjuring Universe? CinemaBlend’s own Sean O’Connell gave it 2 out of 5 stars in his review, lamenting that it didn’t live up its potential or the universe it’s a part of. Sean said:

While La Llorona has a stimulating premise and a creepy spirit who is realized with impressive practical effects, the overall execution is tepid and uninspired, putting this chapter below the level of chills we’ve come to expect from the better Conjuring movies.

Sean found some things to like in The Curse of La Llorona, but ultimately it was a disappointment, especially in light of the potential of its premise. The Chicago Sun Times’ Richard Roeper, who gave The Curse of La Llorona 1.5 stars, echoed Sean’s sentiments in his review, saying:

The Curse of La Llorona is the sixth entry in the Conjuring Universe, but it sucks as a stand-alone film, despite a promising set-up.

This was a common thread in the reviews. The rich folklore of La Llorona, or the Weeping Woman, deserved better than the film it got. That disappointment was expressed in Peter Travers’ 1.5 out of 5 star review for Rolling Stone. He addressed how this film arrives at a time when horror is hot at the box office right now, saying:

Still, that’s no excuse for a lazy cash-in like The Curse of La Llorona, which plays too timid for terror and is too lazily constructed to haunt anyone’s dreams.

It isn’t all negative though. While some have dinged The Curse of La Llorona for being far too clichéd and formulaic for anyone who has ever seen a horror movie, the New York Times’ Manohla Dargis found that formula effective. She said in her review:

The scares are plentiful and sometimes ticklishly funny in The Curse of La Llorona, an enjoyably old-fashioned ghost story.

So it sounds like easy to please horror fans will find some scares and some laughs in this film as long as they aren’t expecting much else. The Hollywood Reporter’s John DeFore was hoping for more though and was somewhat bored by the flick. He said:

Curse of La Llorona is a ho-hum horror flick that seems highly unlikely to join producer James Wan's earlier projects into thriller-franchise Valhalla

That The Curse of La Llorona is part of Jame Wan’s Conjuring Universe should be a stamp of relative quality, but this forced connection may actually be to the film’s detriment. Slashfilm’s Meredith Borders called the film “half-baked and lazy” and said:

So many of La Llorona‘s narrative choices feel made by committee for the crassest possible reasons, forfeiting sensible storytelling in favor of in-jokes, flashbacks and Easter eggs. The Curse of La Llorona fails on the most basic level: it never manages to tell a logical story in a compelling way.

Yikes. Clearly The Curse of La Llorona is not for everyone. But with a 35% on Rotten Tomatoes, it is still not the worst-reviewed film in The Conjuring Universe and certainly not the worst-reviewed horror movie out there. So if you’re a franchise completionist or you just want a fun horror film and aren’t expecting a masterpiece, you could have a good time with The Curse of La Llorona.

The Curse of La Llorona opens this weekend. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of all the movies on the way in the rapidly approaching summer movie season.

Why Keira Knightley Isn’t Down With Nude Scenes Anymore

Why Keira Knightley Isn’t Down With Nude Scenes Anymore

Keira Knightley’s new movie The Aftermath came out earlier this year. It’s notable for being a period drama that Knightley took that’s not set in the corset era, but also because it has nude scenes, scenes Knightley notably used a body double for. While Knightley has revealed she was excited about using a body double, she’s not particularly excited about getting naked on the big screen these days. She said:

I have been comfortable earlier with more nudity than I am now. I have had a kid, I am in my 30s, I am very happy with my body, but I don’t feel I need to get it out that much anymore.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, the actress noted that she’s a mom now. Her body has changed thanks to bearing a child and she’s simply not as excited about foisting her naked body on the entire moviegoing audience anymore.

It’s not that she’s seemingly opposed to nudity or topless scenes like some actress are. She notably has filmed a slew of sex scenes during her career and some of them have bared more than others. While filming The Edge of Love she opted to go topless, saying at the time she doesn’t love bras in sex scenes. That's not the only time she's done a scene of that ilk either, although she's previously said she's never revealed her bottom half.

This time around, though, she was all about the body double, also telling Good Morning America that she had the best time picking out a woman to play her body in The Aftermath.

Well they said, ‘Look we want to do a nude scene.’ And I said, ‘Yes, that’s a very good idea.’ They said, ‘Are you comfortable with that?’ I said, ‘Well, I’m really comfortable as long as I don’t have to do it.’ They said, ‘OK great, you can choose your own body double.’ It was absolutely brilliant.

From the looks and sounds of things, we might not be seeing the Pirates of the Caribbean actress undress on the big screen in the future either, since she seems to be having a lot of fun with the finding a body double stuff.

For more on nudity in R-rated films, take a look at our full history.

Interestingly, it’s not like Keira Knightley just recently hired her first body double. She also used one in the 2007 film Atonement for her feet and she used a body double for her butt in the flick Domino.

So, she’s sort of waffled back and forth between what she’s willing to throw up on the big screen and what she’s less jazzed about. In this case, the postwar film has a lot of moments between the sheets, but it’s not Keira Knightley you’re looking at. When she is shown onscreen in the early previews for the movie, she’s covered up by sheets or wearing lacy bits.

The Aftermath is still out in limited release.

Disney Pledges Millions To Notre Dame Repairs

Disney Pledges Millions To Notre Dame Repairs

On Monday, a tragic event took place as a massive fire broke out at the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. One of the most well known and beautiful buildings in the world received serious damage that is still being examined to determine its full extent. One company that has a tangential relationship with the location is Disney, having produced an animated film set at the iconic location. Now, the studio has pledged $5 million to help rebuild the cathedral.

For those of us who have never been lucky enough to visit Paris, our strongest connection to Notre Dame may be Victor Hugo's story The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The book was the basis for a 1996 animated feature by Disney. The company also owns two theme parks in the city. These reasons, combined with just the general pain and sadness that the fire caused many people, are likely the reasons the company felt compelled to donate to the reconstruction effort.

While Notre Dame can certainly be rebuilt, it will never really be the same place again. While everything can conceivably be recreated, parts of the structure were built in the 13th century, and you can't make that come back.

Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame was not one of Disney's massive hits, it barely broke $100 million domestically, though it did much better overseas. Word has been that Disney was planning on creating a live-action version of Hunchback, as it has with so many of its animated films. The project reportedly will star Josh Gad as Quasimodo. This assumes that recent events haven't had an impact on the movie.

While Hunchback might not be one of Disney's most loved movies, that hasn't stopped many from requesting it be added to Netflix in the US so that people can comfort themselves with the animated version of the building.

The film has been available on Netflix before, but is not listed currently, likely because Disney is getting ready to include it as part of its own streaming service, Disney+.

Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame is actually a remarkable film that doesn't get the credit it deserves .The movie may be the darkest, most mature thing to ever come out of Walt Disney Animation Studios. It has a villain who is motivated by lust, which is an utterly bizarre thing to see in an animated Disney movie, but that's part of what makes the film so special. Nobody can accuse Disney of not taking risks with that one.

Many different people and organizations are donating funds to help rebuild Notre Dame. Even if it's not quite the same place ever again, the fact that much of the cathedral survived is certainly something to be happy about. Although, in the same way that it took more than 100 years for Notre Dame to be built the first time, it will be a long time before repairs are complete.

Jesse Eisenberg Explains Why The Zombieland: Double Tap Cast Is Working Extra Hard

Jesse Eisenberg Explains Why The Zombieland: Double Tap Cast Is Working Extra Hard

Aside from superheroes, one of the most popular macguffins in entertainment world are zombies. The undead have captivated audiences since back in 1968's Night of the Living Dead, with endless adaptations coming on both the silver and small screen. While The Walking Dead may have revolutionized zombies for the modern audience, Ruben Fleischer's Zombieland arrived in theaters years before Rick Grimes woke up in the apocalypse.

The zombie comedy hit is finally getting a sequel with Zombieland: Double Tap, which is set to arrive this October. The four leading actors are set to reprise their roles in the highly anticipated follow-up: Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, and Jesse Eisenberg. Eisenberg recently revealed that everyone involved in Double Tap is working especially hard. After joking about phoning it in, he said:

No, the opposite. We’re working so hard. It’s one of these movies that, people loved it for personal reasons. So it’s not just a big hit movie. People love it for personal reasons so you want to make sure it’s as funny and as personal as the other one.

It looks like Jesse Eisenberg and the rest of the Zombieland: Double Tap cast truly understands just how beloved the first movie is. As such, they're taking special care to provide the same mixture of laughs and heart with Ruben Fleischer's sequel.

Jesse Eisenberg's comments to Movieweb will no doubt excite the many fans of the first Zombieland movie. The blockbuster defied genre, and made light out of the zombie apocalypse in a fresh and exciting way, while also making an impressive amount of money in theaters. The years since Zombieland arrived have elevated the project to cult status, so the pressure is on to deliver something as unique and twisted as the first movie.

Director Ruben Fleischer will be back to direct Zombieland: Double Tap, fresh off the massive success of his comic book movie Venom. He brought his same unique tone and vision to that Sony blockbuster, so he should hopefully have the momentum to bring back his zombie franchise to theaters. And with the original cast also returning, the pieces of the puzzle have presumably been set up for a great sequel.

The quartet of returning actors aside, there is some new and exciting talent being brought into the franchise in Zombieland: Double Tap. Newcomers including Rosario Dawson, Silicon Valley's Thomas Middleditch, Luke Wilson, and Zoe Deutch (Why Him?). It's a significantly larger cast than the first film, so it appears the surviving humans will factor heavily into the upcoming film's narrative. While Zombieland was mostly the four people vs the dead, it should be interesting to see how the world has changed since we last saw those returning characters.

Zombieland: Double Tap will arrive in theaters on October 11th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Will Smith Has Seen Aladdin’s Final Cut, And He’s Hyped

Will Smith Has Seen Aladdin’s Final Cut, And He’s Hyped

Disney fans rejoice! The studio’s live-action season soon awaits as Dumbo, Aladdin and The Lion King get ready to hit theaters in the coming spring and summer months. It’s a lot of nostalgia to process at once, and each movie has some beautifully animated shoes to fill ­– metaphorically anyway: elephants, genies or lions don’t need footwear.

Of all the highly-anticipated performances, Will Smith’s Genie might be the one we are most anxiously bracing ourselves for, following Robin Williams’ iconic, hilarious and touching animated performance as the entity of the lamp. The actor recently took to his Instagram to announce he’s seen the upcoming movie and he’s blazing with joy. Check out his reaction below:

Are we ready to get on the hype train with Will Smith? The Aladdin star is calling it straight “FIRE” (emojis and all) and he doesn’t seem to mean that in a “hot garbage fire” kind of way.

A past Aladdin teaser revealing the first look of Will Smith’s blue genie caused some concern in fans of the movie’s CGI. The first image of the character went completely viral and was criticized for being "terrifying." However, the recent first full trailer eased some of this apprehension, as the wish-granting character’s CGI looks more complete.

The new trailer also offered a closer glance at the movie’s music numbers and recreations of famous scenes, such as Aladdin’s first meeting with the Genie, his makeover into a prince and one romantic magic carpet ride. The latest preview certainly looks promising and has many fans getting the memorable songs back in their heads and ready to see Disney’s new take on the popular animated film from the studio’s renaissance.

We should note the reaction from Will Smith is, of course, a bit of self-advertising on his part, and the actor certainly wants people to get excited and go out to see the movie. If Smith went on social media and said he hated the movie, that would certainly hurt the film’s chances at gaining positive buzz. However, it does help to hear the star sound excited for the release and the fact that he’s seen it means it’s that much closer to hitting big screens.

Following the in the footsteps of 1992 film, Aladdin follows a street urchin (Mena Massoud), who comes across a magic lamp, thanks to shady deal with Jafar (Marwan Kenzari) and finds a genie inside who helps disguise himself as a prince in order to woo the beautiful Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) as a vile power play unfolds between Jafar and the Sultan of Agrabah (Navid Negahban).

The film also stars Alan Tudyk as Iago the parrot and SNL’s Nasim Pedrad as a new character named Dalia, and it will include two new songs. Aladdin flies into theaters on May 24.