Post-Avengers: Endgame, The Russos Will Be Working On A Lot Of Remakes

Post-Avengers: Endgame, The Russos Will Be Working On A Lot Of Remakes

Delivering a blockbuster on any level of the MCU’s greatest hits brings a lot of opportunities. And certainly, in the case of Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo, there’s going to be a lot of parties interested in landing their unique voices. MGM in particular seems eager to work with the brothers, as they’ve recently landed a deal for them to try their hand at some projects under their roof, with a lot of potential for remakes to benefit in the process.

It was announced recently that The Russo Brothers’ production partnership AGBO Films has entered an agreement that consists of “a multi-film non-exclusive creative partnership to co-develop, co-produce and co-finance a slate of projects” with the legendary studio that brought us everything from Gone With The Wind to Legally Blonde, as well as the entire James Bond franchise. While original projects from AGBO Films are still on the table, there’s a focus on revitalizing in house IP from MGM, and there’s two films already waiting on the tarmac.

Diversifying the portfolio of the long ailing studio are remakes of films for both child and adult alike. On the more family friendly side, the already in process remake of The Secret of NIMH entitled The Rats of NIMH is in process, with the visual style aiming for a live-action/CGI hybrid like that of Disney’s The Lion King. Knowing how inventive and frightening the look of the original 1982 film from director Don Bluth was, having The Russo Brothers on board to shepherd this project is one of the best decisions that will come out of this partnership. Save for bringing Bluth back to the fold as a consultant, of course.

The other MGM property that looks to be part of the early phases of this deal is The Thomas Crown Affair, the legendary Steve McQueen heist film that already saw itself remade in 1999 with Pierce Brosnan playing the dashing thief. With Michael B. Jordan already attached to play the man with the plan, and a new rewrite means that Joe and Anthony Russo have come in at just the right time to put that story right, should they see fit.

Now is a good time to mention that, per Deadline's report, this is not only a non-exclusive agreement, allowing The Russos to roam about to other studios while working through this agreement. So should the want to either join a new clubhouse like the DCEU or maintain relationships with old friends like Marvel Studios, it looks like there’s room to breathe for all involved.

Also, this MGM agreement only specifies that The Russo Brothers will “co-develop, co-produce, and co-finance” the films on their slate. One would think that if they really wanted to direct any of the projects on their docket, there’d be little to no objection. But if they want to sit back and guide some fresh talent in the director’s chair, that too could work to their favor.

The world is about to become an oyster for The Russos to harvest at their own will, and all it took was six Infinity Stones and a handful of Marvel cinematic masterworks to get there. If there’s anything more interesting than recounting what they’ve done in the past, it’s what they’re about to do with their future.

Avengers: Endgame heads to theaters on April 26th, and much like destiny, you can’t run from it. But you can prepare for it with our MCU timeline, showcasing the various running orders you can watch the films in, leading up to this momentous occasion.

Elizabeth Moss Replaces Johnny Depp In The Invisible Man

Elizabeth Moss Replaces Johnny Depp In The Invisible Man

Although Universal’s Dark Universe franchise is no longer focusing on interconnectivity between its movies following the underwhelming performance of The Mummy in 2017, some of its announced projects are still moving forward. The Invisible Man is one of them, only rather than Johnny Depp playing the lead as previously announced, that role will now be filled by The Handmaid’s Tale star Elisabeth Moss.

Back in January, at the same time it was announced that future Dark Universe movies would be standalone stories, it was revealed that Johnny Depp, who had been attached to The Invisible Man since 2016, would no longer appear in the movie, although he could still appear in a different Dark Universe project down the line. A little over a month later, it was reported that Elisabeth Moss was being eyed to take over the leading role.

Now EW has confirmed that the actress, also well known for her time on Mad Men, has officially boarded The Invisible Man, which Jason Blum is producing through his Blumhouse Productions company. This will be Moss’ second Blumhouse picture, as she recently starred in Jordan Peele’s Us, which has been met with critical acclaim and made over $220 million worldwide so far.

It’s also important to mention that this isn’t a case where Elisabeth Moss will lead a movie that was originally intended for Johnny Depp. The current version of The Invisible Man is being written and directed by Upgrade and Insidious: Chapter 3’s Leigh Whannell, so he’s crafting a brand new story that Moss will star in. Whether that means the title will be changed to The Invisible Woman (assuming she’s the one pulling off the disappearing act) or something else remains to be seen.

It was clarified in January that just because The Invisible Man was being retooled didn’t necessarily mean it would be the next Dark Universe movie to be released. However, the fact that Elisabeth Moss has officially been cast just a month after her name was mentioned for the project could indicate Universal is pushing towards getting The Invisible Man off the ground sooner rather than later.

Originally a novel penned by The Time Machine author H.G. Wells, The Invisible Man was first adapted as a movie in 1933, with Claude Rains playing the eponymous role. Although the Invisible Man (a moniker adopted by several individuals) would be a recurring antagonist in the golden age of Universal Monsters, the character hasn’t been the star of his own movie in recent decades, although one named Rodney Skinner did appear in 2003’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

As for Elisabeth Moss, along with the previously mentioned projects, her credits include The West Wing, Top of the Lake, Get Him to the Greek and The Old Man & The Gun. Along with reprising Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale Season 3 this June, she can be seen later this year in The Kitchen and Shirley.

The Invisible Man doesn’t have an assigned release date yet, but production will take place in Australia. We here at CinemaBlend will keep you updated on how the project is coming along as more news comes in, but for now, head to our 2019 release schedule to plan your trips to the theater later this year accordingly.

Shazam! Made More Money Than Aquaman In Preview Screenings

Shazam! Made More Money Than Aquaman In Preview Screenings

My man Aquaman has the highest-grossing DC film of all time. Shazam! is not expected to top it, or even come close, to be honest. But Zachary Levi's film is already defying expectations, with a preview screening pulling in bigger bucks than the DCEU's reigning king -- among other movies.

Shazam! played in 1,200 Fandango preview screenings Saturday night, making $3.3 million. That topped Aquaman's Atom/Amazon preview take of $2.9 million, and also the previews for How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World ($2.6 million), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ($1.8 million), and Hotel Transylvania ($1.3 million).

Those figures are per Deadline, which noted that Shazam!'s preview box office take was spread pretty evenly throughout North America. Of course, that doesn't mean the movie will have a huge opening weekend at the domestic North American box office, or charm the international box office in the way that really boosted Aquaman over the top. But it's a promising start for a movie that's easy to root for.

Zachary Levi -- aka the kid-in-an-adult-superhero's body himself -- was on hand for one of Shazam!'s advance screenings. He thanked the fans, who were surely surprised and thrilled to see him:

The review embargo for Shazam! lifted last night, with critics flooding the internet with lengthy opinions. Most of the reviews have been very positive, and Shazam! currently has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 93% from 46 reviews.

Shazam! is apparently tracking for an opening weekend somewhere around $40-$50 million. But lately every top film has overperformed -- from Captain Marvel making more than expected in her opening weekend, to Jordan Peele's Us nearly doubling the predictions for his film.

Aquaman actually had a relatively slow start at the domestic box office, with the lowest opening of the DCEU. But it definitely made up for it over time, especially with help from the foreign box office, and the movie currently has a worldwide gross of $1,146,648,294. That's the best of the current DCEU, and also the best for any DC Comics movie.

So right now many lucky critics and fans have already seen Shazam! but the rest of us will have to wait another couple of weeks. The movie officially opens in theaters on Friday, April 5. Shazam! will show up right after Dumbo, about a month after Captain Marvel, and only a few weeks before Marvel's Avengers: Endgame. We are officially in the busy season, and it should continue through the summer. Keep up with everything headed to the big screen in 2019 with our handy movie schedule.

Justice League Photo Featuring Henry Cavill’s Mustache Emerges, And It’s Glorious

Justice League Photo Featuring Henry Cavill’s Mustache Emerges, And It’s Glorious

There may be no more famous mustache in the world that the one that Henry Cavill wore in Justice League that nobody saw. It was a major topic of conversation leading up to the release of the DC universe blockbuster, but up until now, all we had to actually see was Cavill's facial hair in Mission: Impossible - Fallout and the rough CGI from Justice League. Now, however, we have an actual picture of Superman with a mustache, and it's everything you ever dreamed of. Check it out.

While it wasn't necessarily difficult to guess what Henry Cavill looked like wearing both a mustache and a Superman costume, actually seeing it is another matter entirely. It's sort of amazing. Many responding to the image posted on the Pop Culture Pod Twitter page think the mustache actually looks pretty great and that Cavill should have been allowed to keep it in the film. Perhaps a Superman with complete facial hair, a beard as well as a mustache, could have worked. Maybe, given the situation, it would have been the best option.

If you're unfamiliar with the epic story of the Cavill-stache, It all came about following the conclusion of principal photography on Justice League. Henry Cavill went off from that movie and began to shoot Mission: Impossible - Fallout, a role in which he had a full beard and mustache. Then Zack Snyder stepped down from directing Justice League for personal reasons, or was fired, depending on which story you believe. Joss Whedon was brought into finish the film, and much more extensive reshoots than what had been originally planned were scheduled.

Unfortunately, Cavill was still in the middle of shooting Fallout when these new reshoots took place, and Cavill couldn't shave, as doing so would have delayed production of the Mission: Impossible movie. The decision, the only one available really, was to shoot Superman with a mustache, and then remove it from the picture via the use of digital effects.

The end result was...rough to say the least. The longer than usual reshoot schedule meant that post-production had less time than usual to do the work of eliminating the facial hair. It's pretty obvious when the CGI Cavill is on the screen, which is mostly disappointing because it takes you out of the experience during what is otherwise one of the biggest moments in the film.

The future of Superman in the DC universe is unclear. There are apparently no plans to make another Superman movie at the moment, so when or if we might see Henry Cavill again in the Superman costume, sans-stache is anybody's guess. Though it seems reports that Cavill was officially done with the role may have been premature.

Whatever happens, at least now we know what all the fuss was about.

Shazam’s Mark Strong Almost Starred In An X-Men Movie

Shazam’s Mark Strong Almost Starred In An X-Men Movie

Mark Strong’s latest role as the villain Dr. Sivana in Shazam! isn’t anywhere close to his first rodeo in comic book movie adaptations. He’s been Frank D’Amico in Kick-Ass, Sinestro in Green Lantern, Merlin in Kingsman and he almost played a villainous mutant in an X-Men film. Here’s what Strong said of his role that never was:

Matthew Vaughn did ask me to do X-Men: First Class. There was a bad guy in X-Men that Kevin Bacon played. Because I speak German it just seemed so logical having worked with him that I would play that part, but I think at that point we both felt… I think I had just done Blackwood in Sherlock Holmes and it had been just too many bad guys very recently. So that one we didn’t go down the path of that.

How interesting is that. According to Mark Strong’s recent words to ComingSoon.net, he was in the running to play Sebastian Shaw in 2011’s X-Men: First Class. The character turned out to have an important role in the origin story of Magneto, as a Nazi in the concentration camp who guided Erik to manifesting his powers out of his rage and murdered his mother in front of him. He eventually showed up as the main villain the X-Men must take on when Erik is an adult. Kevin Bacon won the role and did an effective job as Shaw, but looks like Strong was originally an option the filmmakers seriously considered.

Because Mark Strong was a past collaborator to First Class director Matthew Vaughn for both Kick Ass and Stardust, he immediately thought of the actor to take on the role of Shaw – especially considering Strong could already speak German. But since the actor had done quite a few high profile bad guy roles recently, he decided against it. He would however take on the role of Sinestro during the same year of X-Men: First Class was released, though the famous DC didn’t quite get to live out his full potential in the famous superhero bomb.

Mark Strong now gets to be the DC villain he was meant to be as Dr. Sivana in Shazam! which critics have raved about ahead of its upcoming weekend release. The villain will go head-to-head with 14-year-old Billy Batson’s adult superhero alter ego Shazam, who is discovering his fantastic powers with his fellow foster kid friend Freddy in a hilarious and entertaining new superhero origin story.

Mark Strong recently expressed what attracted him to return to another comic book adaptation to CinemaBlend, by explaining he loves the crowd-pleasing humor of the hero and the dark, weird and creepy story of his newest bad guy character. You can check out Strong as Sivana in Shazam!, in theaters on April 5.

The First 17 Minutes Of Toy Story 4 Finally Reveal Why Bo Peep Disappeared

The First 17 Minutes Of Toy Story 4 Finally Reveal Why Bo Peep Disappeared

Spoilers, obviously from CinemaCon 2019 where Disney played the first 17 minutes of the upcoming animated sequel.

I saw the first 17 minutes of Toy Story 4 and at first it felt like time had stopped, looped and rewound to a simpler time when Woody and Buzz were Andy’s toys. In fact, the movie kicks off with a flashback that hits on a lot of nostalgic notes, but also finally reveals a major secret: What happened to Bo Peep and why wasn’t she in Toy Story 3?

Early on, we flashback to Andy’s childhood home, where his sister Molly is getting rid of some of her early toys, including Bo Peep. Woody is making a daring rescue of another toy when Bo Peep is boxed up with her sheep, but he makes it to the car in time to say goodbye. He tries to save her from the box, but she gently reminds him that she’s been made to be played with. Perhaps it’s her time to go.

The clincher, however, is that she asks Woody to go with her, reminding him that toys “get lost” or “left outside.” But he can’t go. He still has Andy to think about. They part ways.

It’s not exactly a tearjerker moment, but wow does the opener hit all the feels.

But we’re off to the races afterward. The movie then cuts to the present day featuring the characters who have all mingled together since Toy Story 3. It’s Bonnie’s orientation day at Kindergarten, but she’s really sad to leave her favorite toys behind. (She’s less sad about Woody, who recently seems to have fallen out of favor.) The rest is the start of an adventure, an adventure that also features new character Forky’s origin story and more.

In the trailer, we’ve seen Woody and Forky get separated from the group thanks to Forky’s penchant for wanting to be trash and not a toy. Woody ends up reuniting with Bo Peep in the first trailer at a shop near a park of some sort, complete with a Ferris Wheel and lots to do! Bo Peep, for her part, has moved on from wanting to please children and Woody seems enamored by this new place and way of thinking.

From Pixar's point of view, we don’t know exactly why Bo Peep was written out of Toy Story 3 or why she only popped up briefly in Toy Story 2. She just wasn’t really a major component in the Toy Story narrative for the last couple of movies, but this first look capably presents a good reason behind why Bo Peep disappeared and the trailer reintroduces her as a stronger and wiser character.

But now she’s back in a big way in Toy Story 4.

Of course, while it’s nice to know why Bo Peep and Woody were separated and when exactly in the timeline it happened, the really notable moment may simply be seeing Woody back in Andy’s world.

I’m not always fond of flashbacks, but in this case, it seems to have worked. Seeing Andy again – even though I knew it was going to happen – capably tied the movie to its roots. Andy’s been a part of every movie and he’s woven into Woody’s fibers of being, even if Woody now has Bonnie written on his shoe.

Ultimately, we know Toy Story 4 is going to get emotional. The other movies in the franchise leave me blubbering every. single. time. Plus Tom Hanks has already said he had an emotional last day filming this sucker, and even didn’t want to face the creative team as he finished up his recording.

The way you record Toy Story, you're in a room with the team that has created it. When I went in for my last day of recording, I wanted to have my back to them, because usually you're facing him so you can look right up and you can talk about it. But I didn't want to see them and I wanted to pretend they couldn't see me. When I realized what they were going for, I realized, 'Oh, this is a moment in history.'

Toy Story 4 opens on June 21, 2019. Stay tuned for more coverage from CinemaCon 2019 and be sure to keep an eye on what we know about the upcoming animated Pixar flick.

Gemini Man's Big Challenge Revolved Around Will Smith's Performance, According To Ang Lee

Gemini Man's Big Challenge Revolved Around Will Smith's Performance, According To Ang Lee

Ang Lee’s next project has quietly been coming together over at Paramount for over a year. At CinemaCon, the director revealed he is “in the home stretch” for Gemini Man, a high concept new thriller that will hit theaters later in 2019 starring Will Smith.

The general premise of the movie is that Will Smith plays Henry, an aging assassin who at one point gets cloned. Now, his 23-year-old clone is out to get him. Sounds fun, and the first footage looks fun, but Ang Lee says there was one problem with trying to film Will Smith as a much younger actor—he’s gotten much better at acting over the years.

Per the director,

Working with him over a year I found that the present-day Will Smith is such a surprisingly fine actor. He brought the character Harry to such a sophistication, melancholy, courage and sophistication I would say. I found his performance, I would say, is just exquisite. Now the really hard part was as I mentioned the junior, the 23-year-old.

Will Smith’s caliber of acting has changed over time and Ang Lee also revealed that it was an unbelievable challenge to get the actor to play both roles, one with experience and sophistication and one with youth and courage. He also noted:

We have a very high class problem, which is Will Smith is a lot better actor today than what he used to be. I’m not joking. That’s a real problem for me because of how many layers, how daring an actor has to be, how willing he is to be so we can get down to the essence: peel the layers of his personality, his experience and his performance experience.

Back in the days when Will Smith was a catchphrase machine and one of the most energetic presences in Hollywood, he maybe hadn’t fully honed his craft year. Now 50, the actor has honed his skills in the acting arena considerably. Most of the time this was great on the set of Gemini Man, but it also presented challenges given the dual nature of the nature, which had Smith acting as a man of his age but also a much younger clone.

It should be noted Will Smith’s own challenge related to Gemini Man seemed to have more to do with bugs than playing a kid in his twenties.

However, when the actor had to tap into the raw nature of playing a 23-year-old clone, things got tricky. At CinemaCon 2019, Ang Lee also reflected that getting Will Smith to the point where he could capably play a character with decades of less experience was “heartbreaking,” saying,

Get down to the essence of the innocence of him [at 23] and performing from there, I found that the result is just heartbreaking. It’s something I’ve never experienced before. I’ve had him for like a year; I’m up to here with Will Smith. So much Will Smith in my life. I think I know this man’s essence as a friend as a person as a really fine, good actor.

But Gemini Man is not just about Will Smith’s acting performance. Having seen first look footage from the movie, the de-aging CGI technology used to create two versions of Will Smith looks pretty fantastic.

Ang Lee is also notably using the 120 frame per second technology for Gemini Man. It’s a premise he attempted once before in 2016 with Billy Lynne’s Long Halftime Walk, the director’s follow-up to Life of Pi. Average films are shot in 24 frames per second.

Although Billy Lynne didn’t really resonate with audiences or some critics – many of whom did not enjoy the visuals -- Ang Lee is giving the high frame rate another go with the 3D Gemini Man. The studio, Paramount,

Ultimately Ang Lee said he was lucky to be able to sign on a busy actor like Will Smith for the role – he said “very, very lucky” actually – and audiences will get to see whether or not the 120 frame per second rate is the wave of the future when the movie hits theaters on October 11, 2019.

Check out the flick’s competition with our full movies schedule.