Sean Gunn Knew In Advance About James Gunn’s Reinstatement As Guardians 3 Director

Sean Gunn Knew In Advance About James Gunn’s Reinstatement As Guardians 3 Director

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a fairly well-oiled machine at this point, with 21 movies and a decade of filmmaking under its belt. The studio has especially hit its stride with Phase Three, as every single release has been a box office and critical success. But there were a few bumps in the road, especially James Gunn's firing and eventual reinstatement as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

James Gunn was fired in July after offensive tweets from a decade ago resurfaced, and Disney attempted to distance itself from that narrative. But considering how much of Gunn is infused with the Guardians franchise, it put the future of the threequel in jeopardy. James' brother Sean Gunn plays Kraglin and stands in for Rocket during filming, and therefore discovered the news early. As he tells it:

I was aware before it was announced, a little bit before. I know that they were, they wanted to get the timing right in terms of when the announcement was made. Like I was saying before, in Hollywood, things don't ever happen until they happen, you know? So I was aware that it was probably going to happen, but I was never sure until I actually saw it in the news. But I was pretty sure for, let's just say for a little while.

The public was shocked by James Gunn's return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it doesn't look like Sean Gunn was. He saw the plan in the works for some time before it was official, although he found out about the final decision in the news just like everyone else. I guess it pays to be related to the subject of such a major story.

Sean Gunn's comments to Comic Book show that the deal with James Gunn went back quite some time. It came out of nowhere for the public, but was likely a long process filled with red tape and legalese. It was certainly a bold choice for Marvel to do an about-face, and bring Gunn back into the fold. What's more, the director recently signed on to helm The Suicide Squad for DC, so there was probably extra contracts and scheduling issues as part of the deal.

It stands to reason that Sean Gunn would be privy to more information than most, as its his sibling who is the mind behind the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. On top of hearing about it from his brother, Sean is also an important cast member of the property. While he's not a bonafide member of the member, Kraglin has had a supporting role in the first two movies. What's more, Sean also does the motion capture work for Rocket on set, with Bradley Cooper eventually stepping into the studio to record dialogue, and extensive visual affects bringing the character to life.

Sean Gunn also played Rocket during Avengers: Endgame filming, with the blockbuster arriving April 26th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Avengers: Infinity War’s Writer Knows Captain America Didn’t Get Enough Lines

Avengers: Infinity War’s Writer Knows Captain America Didn’t Get Enough Lines

It's an extremely exciting time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After a long year of waiting and theorizing, Avengers: Endgame will arrive in theaters in a matter of days. While the MCU helped satiate the rabid fanbase with the releases of Ant-Man and The Wasp and Captain Marvel, all eyes are on what The Russo Brothers will do with the final installment in Phase Three. Especially with the OG Avengers coming to the end of their contracts.

The original members of the team all miraculously survived Thanos' snap of death (aka The Decimation), allowing the original actors to take larger roles in Avengers: Endgame. This includes Chris Evans' Captain America, who had a surprisingly small amount of dialogue in the last film. Writer Stephen McFeely recently spoke to Cap's lack of lines in Infinity War, saying:

When I was talking about [Infinity War], I very often said that sometimes we gave ourselves permission to tell more story for a character in Endgame than in Infinity War. Cap’s a great example. People counted Cap’s lines [in Infinity War] and he had like 20. So Cap steps forward, as you can probably tell, pretty dramatically in Endgame. And that’s because we knew some people had more interesting stories after [the Snap] than before it. Cap and Natasha are good examples of that. So I wouldn’t say we shortchange anybody [in Endgame], but part of the reason there are only [13] people on that poster was to go deeper with fewer.

While fans may have been concerned, it looks like Stephen McFeely and co-writer Christopher Markus had a very specific plans for the Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Infinity War and Endgame. So while some heroes may have gotten the short end of the stick in the last film, the scales will even out when Endgame arrives next week.

Stephen McFeely's comments to io9 are sure to make Captain America's many fans very happy. Chris Evans' signature Marvel character is one of the largest presences in the entire MCU, alongside Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man. As such, some moviegoers were disappointed when Cap wasn't that big of a character in Infinity War. He never got to reconnect with Tony, and mostly appeared in action sequences in Edinburgh and Wakanda.

Related: 5 Ways Avengers: Endgame Can Wrap Up Captain America’s Story

But that should change with Endgame, especially once Tony is somehow rescued from being stranded in space with Nebula. Fans have been waiting to see Cap and Iron Man address their differences since Civil War arrived in theaters back in 2016. The duo will have to put their differences behind them if they have a chance at beating Thanos and reversing the snap.

You can actually watch all of Steve Rogers' scenes in Infinity War below. They only add up to a few minutes of screen time.

Poor Cap. There were just too many characters in Avengers: Infinity War to give him the spotlight. But now that half the cast has faded to dust before our eyes, we should expect way more of the First Avenger once Endgame arrives in theaters to unite the survivors.

It should be interesting to see how Captain America's story is wrapped up with Avengers: Endgame. Fans have been theorizing that he might end up dying during the blockbuster, especially as Chris Evans reaches the end of his contract with the studio. Cap has already sacrificed himself for the greater good once, and it would be a full circle moment to see him do it all again.

Answers will come when Avengers: Endgame finally arrives in theaters on April 26th. In the meantime, fill out CinemaBlend's Endgame death pool, and our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Detective Pikachu Might Start A Cinematic Universe

Detective Pikachu Might Start A Cinematic Universe

There's just a few weeks left until Pokemon fans of all ages will be able to feast their eyes on the first live-action story set within the massive world of those adorable pocket monsters, and it sounds like those behind Detective Pikachu are already considering their options when it comes to bringing even more of the legendary critters to the big screen for some live-action fun and adventure. Producer Ali Mendes has now gone on record to talk about just how likely it is that Detective Pikachu will start a cinematic Pokemon universe.

[Pokemon is] such a rich universe. There are so many ways you can go inside of it. We’re trying to get the first movie right, and then once we’ve done that, we’ll see where we go from there, but absolutely. There are a lot of opportunities.

Well, to make no bones about it, folks, it sounds a lot like if Detective Pikachu makes any waves at all once it's released that we could be looking at the beginning of a beautiful, live-action cinematic friendship filled with Pikachus, Charizards, Flareons and a whole host of other critters. And, who can blame the masterminds behind Detective Pikachu for wanting to get their own big screen, live-action cinematic universe going? The possibilities for fan service and financial gain are, seemingly, endless, and the idea of having such a legacy to add to the one that's already been established with the wealth of characters at their disposal has to be very appealing.

Of course, Detective Pikachu will hardly be the first film that's eager to establish a cinematic universe for the world it's bringing to the big screen. As we've seen many, many times since the Marvel Cinematic Universe began dominating in theaters all over the world a little over 10 years ago, trying to create an interconnected universe with characters who all populate the same world, and could easily crossover, has become a major goal for different properties. We now have the Conjuring universe filled with horror stories, the DCEU tackling the stories found in DC comics (and now less interconnected because of the mixed reactions to many of its efforts) and the MonsterVerse giving us shared tales of King Kong, Godzilla and the like.

We've already had one noticeable failed attempt at a cinematic universe, though, with the Dark Universe falling flat upon release of 2017's The Mummy, which was supposed to ignite a shared universe that featured retellings of monster stories from the glory days of Universal. So, is this an uphill battle for Detective Pikachu and the hopefuls who helped bring it to the big screen? It's hard to tell right now, but the Ryan Reynolds-voiced lead character is certainly not the only one who could make the leap to live-action, as Ali Mendes told IGN that she's pretty confident in the stable of characters that make up the Pokemon world.

Even the Pokemon themselves, there are eight hundred of them. We’re going to have a lot of them in [Pokemon: Detective Pikachu], but we want to play with all of them at some point.

Um...there are 800 freakin' Pokemon? I'd say this gives them access to enough critters to create a wide breadth of movies that involve monsters we won't come close to seeing in Detective Pikachu. If all goes well with this film, they could have the beginnings of something major on their hands, and that's really saying something when you consider that there have already been a whopping 22 animated Pokemon movies and 22 seasons of TV across six different shows. Not to mention that a new crop of Pokemon will debut when the latest video game, Pokemon Sword and Shield releases later this year.

If you want to see this cinematic universe dream come to fruition, your best bet is to go see Detective Pikachu when it hits theaters on May 10.

Jennifer Lopez' Bikini Body Is Insane From The Set Of Hustlers Movie

Jennifer Lopez' Bikini Body Is Insane From The Set Of Hustlers Movie

Singer and actress Jennifer Lopez is currently filming a new movie called Hustlers, where she plays the ringleader of a group of strippers who band together to hustle their Wall Street clients. Given the nature of the role, it's understandable that Jennifer Lopez will be showing off her famously curvy body that has been dropping jaws for two decades. Jennifer Lopez decided to show off her body from the set of Hustlers and it is insane. Take a look:

With summer fast approaching, here comes J.Lo to give everyone an extremely lofty beach body goal to shoot for. It will shock absolutely no one that Jennifer Lopez looks good in a bikini. You’d be hard-pressed to find an outfit she didn’t look good in, but her bikini body here is insane. The actress, who hasn’t been shy about showing off her body in the past, looks to have taken her fitness to another level to play a stripper in Hustlers.

In her Instagram photo, Jennifer Lopez is showing off a toned body with some seriously rock hard abs that you could probably do your laundry on. She even appears to have the highly coveted V-cut on her lower abs. It’s an impressive physique no matter her age, but made even more so by the fact that J.Lo will be 50 this year.

The actress clearly takes care of herself and trains hard to get these results. All in all, she looks to be in phenomenal shape and definitely fits the part of a woman who can seduce men with her body while hustling them with her mind.

J.Lo is clearly feeling the part too, captioning her photo with lyrics from Jay-Z’s “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me).” Given that this song from The Dynasty: Roc La Familia is from a male player’s perspective, it is fun that J.Lo is quoting it here, as her character Ramona will flip that power balance on its head.

Hustlers is based on a magazine article titled The Hustlers at Scores by Jessica Pressler, and is being adapted for the screen by the film’s director Seeking a Friend for the End of the World’s Lorene Scafaria. Joining the ultra fit J.Lo in Hustlers is a killer cast of actresses, including Julia Stiles, Riverdale’s Lili Reinhart and Crazy Rich Asians’ Constance Wu. In another case of the blurred lines between art and life, rapper and former stripper herself, Cardi B has also joined the film.

Hustlers does not currently have a release date, but I expect this photo from the set of the film likely put it on many a person’s radar. Check out our 2019 release schedule to keep track of all the biggest movies coming out this year, and for more celebrity fitness goals to aspire to, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

The 10 Highest Grossing Movies Of All Time

The 10 Highest Grossing Movies Of All Time

The movie industry lives and dies by the box office. At the end of the day, nothing is more important to the studio then how a film fares when it comes to ticket sales. Opinions on which movie is truly the best will run the gamut, but the closest thing we have to an objective measure of success, if not quality, is the amount of money people spent to see any given film.

Of course, the movie industry has changed a great deal over the years. It used to be that almost all of a movie's box office came from North America. Today, international box office can contribute for two-thirds or more of a movie's bottom line. This has largely changed the way the current list of top-grossing films currently looks. Here are the top 10 grossing films worldwide, in non-inflation adjusted box office dollars.

1. Avatar $2,788 Billion

2. Titanic $2.187 Billion

3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens $2.068 Billion

4. Avengers: Infinity War $2.048 Billion

5. Jurassic World $1.671 Billion

6. Marvel's The Avengers 1.518 Billion

7. Furious 7 $1.516 Billion

8. Avengers: Age Of Ultron $1.405 Billion

9. Black Panther $1.346 Billion

10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 $1.341 Billion

It's a testament to the success of James Cameron that, while the majority of the top 10 are part of major film franchises, the top two movies are not, (although Avatar is about to become part of a new franchise). Avatar has stood at the top of this list since its release 10 years ago. With a total box office number approaching $3 billion, and the fact that no recent blockbuster movie has ever really challenged it, one certainly wonders if and when another film might ever make this much money.

When Avatar became the highest grossing movie ever, it did so by overcoming another James Cameron film, Titanic. While there's over $600 million separating these two films, the success of Avatar is really an example of the way the international box office has become incredibly powerful. Avatar only out grossed Titanic by $100 million at home; the rest came from overseas, largely China.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens became only the third film to break the $2 billion mark when it was released in 2015. The movie is actually the highest grossing movie ever domestically. However, the franchise actually doesn't quite do as well overseas, especially in China.

The real winner on the top 10 list, of course, is Marvel Studios. All three Avengers movies that have been released thus far make the top 10. The three films alone have brought in $5 billion around the world. When you add in the additional $1.3 billion that Black Panther has made, Marvel owns this list. It seems quite likely that the fourth Avengers movie, Endgame, will be on this list before long.

The rest of the top 10 is made up of a few other major franchise entries. It looks like the Fast and Furious franchise may have peaked with Furious 7, as part eight wasn't able to match the previous film's success. The same is true of Jurassic World. Audiences were clearly ready to see the return of this franchise based on that movie's success, but Fallen Kingdom didn't come anywhere close to matching those box office numbers. By comparison, the Harry Potter franchise ended on a high note, with Deathly Hallows - Part 2 becoming the highest-grossing entry in the series.

Of course, the truth is that all of those numbers are a bit deceiving. Due to the ever increasing pressure of inflation, a movie released today will always gross more compared to films from even a few years ago, never mind the movies of decades past. Adjusting box office totals for inflation, especially on a global scale, is a tricky business, as you also need to adjust for inflation, as well as exchange rates, between multiple countries over decades. The task has been undertaken before, but it's actually possible to come up with slightly different numbers. Here is one estimate for the top 10 grossing films where inflation has been taken into consideration. As you can see, it's a significantly different list.

1. Gone With The Wind

2. Avatar

3. Titanic

4. Star Wars: A New Hope

5. The Sound Of Music

6. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

7. The Tend Commandments

8. Doctor Zhivago

9. Jaws

10. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

The numbers here are largely irrelevant because they all depend on which year's inflation level you take as you standard. It's the order that matters. While Avatar and Titanic are still in the top ten, and still pretty high up there, they both make way for the truly undisputed king of the box office, 1939's Gone with the Wind.

The film came out at a time when the concept of the blockbuster film didn't exist, and yet, that's exactly what it was. Although it does need to be said that the film's box office total represents multiple theatrical releases over the course of decades. In the days before VHS and DVD, movies were routinely re-released in theaters, which is where several films on this list made a lot of their money.

While the Marvel Cinematic Universe was the star of the unadjusted list, when inflation is taken into account, Star Wars is the big winner. The original film, as well as The Force Awakens, both make the top 10, though the return of the Star Wars franchise just barely gets there. A New Hope made over $200 million during its original theatrical run that lasted basically a full year. Today, $200 million is still considered a solid theatrical take. When you adjust that number for inflation, and then add in what the film has done during re-releases, it's no shock you're talking about one of the highest grossing movies ever made.

Steven Spielberg may not have quite the success that James Cameron has on this list, but he's the only other director with two films in the top 10. Jaws is viewed by many as the film that invented the concept of the summer blockbuster. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is one of the most family-friendly and largely accessible movies on the list. It's the sort of movie that sees its box office increase as entire families show up at the theater and buy tickets.

The other three films on the list are some of the most well-loved classics of all-time, which, like Gone with the Wind, have benefited from multiple theatrical releases over the years. The Ten Commandments is a biblical epic, which was largely the comic book superhero movie of the era. Doctor Zhivago is both an epic costume drama and a beautiful romance. The Sound of Music is the musical that it seems everybody is familiar with, and the 1965 movie is a big part of the reason why.

While the inflation adjusted numbers might help level the playing field, that shouldn't take anything away from any of the movies on these lists. They're the biggest movies ever made, according to the people willing to spend their hard earned money to see them.

Looks Like Shazam!'s Opening Weekend Might Make Less Money Than We Thought

Looks Like Shazam!'s Opening Weekend Might Make Less Money Than We Thought

While a different Captain Marvel is currently enjoying massive box office success, Shazam, the superhero formerly known as Captain Marvel is set to bolt into theaters in only a few short weeks. The long-range tracking had Shazam! headed to an opening weekend of about $48 million, but it looks like the latest DCEU superhero film might make a little bit less money than we thought.

The early tracking is in on Shazam!, and the Zachary Levi superhero flick is expected to land between $40 million and $45 million when it opens in April according to Deadline. This number is in the same basic range as the long-range tracking, but as we get closer to release the tracking should be more accurate and based on that, it looks like Shazam! might make less than we thought by as little as a few million and as high as $8 million.

Overall, it looks like Shazam! will land somewhere in the $40 million to $50 million range opening weekend. This would be the lowest domestic opening for a DCEU film to date behind last year’s Aquaman, which opened to almost $68 million. However, it would still be a solid debut for Billy Batson, in part because the film only cost $100 million before print and advertising.

Tracking is prediction, not prophecy, as proven by the fact that Captain Marvel was at one point tracking at a $100 million opening and we all saw how that turned out. There are actually a lot of reasons to be optimistic that Shazam! could overachieve.

Currently, the worst domestic opening weekend in the DCEU is Aquaman and that film went on to become the universe’s most successful film overall. It proved to have strong sea legs and major international appeal, propelling that film to over $1 billion at the box office. Opening weekend isn’t everything and the DCEU is on a roll. Of course, Aquaman had the benefit of greater name recognition among audiences and an introduction in Justice League.

Shazam! might not have quite the same level of spectacle that works so well overseas as the Atlantean, but the film is getting a day-and-date release in China in the same time frame that Ready Player One found so much success last year. It is also looking likely that Shazam! will have great word of mouth and the studio is hoping that younger audiences unfamiliar with the character will still find the film.

The early reactions are in for the DCEU’s latest, and it is apparently every bit the charming delight you would want and the trailers have made it out to be. Warner Bros. seems to have real confidence audiences will feel this way as well and is holding paid preview screenings on March 23 to get the buzz and conversation going early for the movie.

We’ll see how it turns out when Shazam! opens in theaters on April 5. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of all the biggest movies headed your way this year.

Toy Story 4 Confirms A Character That Won't Be Included

Toy Story 4 Confirms A Character That Won't Be Included

The toybox is getting quite full with the fourth Toy Story movie. After getting to know all of Andy's toys in the first two Toy Story movies, Woody, Buzz and the gang joined the collection of toys already owned by young Bonnie in the third film. Now, with Toy Story 4, we'll be meeting even more toy characters, including Bonnie's new favorite, Forky.

It seems that, with so many characters, the fourth film wasn't able to find a place for everybody who had appeared in previous films, as the production team behind Toy Story 4 has revealed that Michael Keaton's Ken doll won't be appearing. During a press conference during my recent trip to Pixar, director Josh Cooley confirmed that Ken is still at Bonnie day care, a place the new film does not go.

Ken is not in this film. He's back at Sunnyside.

While Barbie is a character who appears in earlier Toy Story films, we don't meet Ken until the crew finds themselves at Sunnyside Day Care in the third movie. There, Ken and Barbie meet, and while the rest of Andy's toys go on to live with Bonnie, Barbie stays behind with Ken where they live together in apparent happiness.

Check out our introduction to Ken in the clip below.

If you were hoping that Toy Story 4 was taking a trip to Sunnyside, then I'm sad to report that's not the case. Since the story won't be going there, characters like Ken or Big Baby won't be appearing.

The opening few minutes of Toy Story 4 have screened in a few places and it's been revealed that as part of that Bonnie will be starting Kindergarten. Considering that, it's not too shocking to learn that Bonnie's day care won't be important to the story.

Instead, we know that Toy Story 4 will have two primary locations, an antiques store where Woody will be reunited with Bo Peep, and a carnival where Buzz Lightyear meets a pair of stuffed animals voiced by Key and Peele.

While I'm sure some fans will be sad to learn that Ken is not back, based on what I've seen of the film, there will be entirely new groups of fans excited by the new characters that are being introduced. And then, of course, there is the one big returning character of Bo Peep who was entirely absent from the last movie, but will be back in the new film, but with a very different attitude.

The producers admit that they also loved Michael Keaton's Ken, but Pixar is always very clear that the story is the thing that leads the production of a Pixar film, and the story just didn't take Toy Story 4 back to Ken and Barbie.

Toy Story 4 hits theaters June 21.