Aladdin's Mena Massoud Reveals An All-Improv Scene He Performs With Will Smith

Aladdin's Mena Massoud Reveals An All-Improv Scene He Performs With Will Smith

Being a live-action remake of the beloved 1992 original, Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin will definitely a have more than a few familiar scenes. After all, there are a number of iconic moments in the animated version, and there are certain expectations that audiences will have going in. That being said, the film will also do what it can to set itself apart from anything fans have seen before, and according to star Mena Massoud, part of that effort resulted in a sequence that’s entirely improvised.

In celebration of Aladdin tickets going on sale, I had the chance to sit down with Mena Massoud on the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California, and it was during a conversation about his collaboration with Will Smith that I learned about the sequence exclusively built from improv in the blockbuster. I asked the actor if there was any part of the movie that particularly stood out to him as a favorite, and he described it as so:

I do [have a favorite scene], yes. There's one scene where we kind of improved the whole scene - and it's in the film, so you'll get to see it. It's the first time that the genie and Prince Ali get to meet the royal family, so it's quite a fun, fun sequence. And getting to improv with Will Smith? That's a dream come true.

If you’re familiar with the story of Aladdin, it’s pretty easy to place where this scene will be in the movie – namely toward the end of the first act. While we don’t know right now just how much will be added to the story in the new version, this bit will presumably come after Aladdin has met an in-disguise Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott) on the streets of Agrabah, and been enlisted by Jafar (Marwan Kenzari) to enter the Cave of Wonders to steal the genie’s lamp. As Prince Ali, Aladdin will be trying to make the best first impression that he can with the Sultan (Navid Negahban), hoping to be seen as an appropriate suitor for Jasmine, and we’ll have to wait and see what kind of impression the improv session leaves.

As I followed up about the sequence, I learned that part of the reason why Mena Massoud feels the scene was special is because improvisation wasn’t really an everyday thing on the set of Aladdin. While he was able to throw in the occasional line here and there, working with Guy Ritchie meant primarily sticking to the script. However, when he had his chance to have some extra creative freedom, he excitedly grabbed at it. Said Massoud,

A little bit here and there, but this sequence was definitely a big improv sequence from top to finish basically. Will does a good job of improvising throughout the film, but that scene in particular is a standout for me.

You can watch more from my interview with Aladdin star Mena Massoud below!

It won’t be long until fans will be able to see the scene for themselves, as Aladdin – which co-stars Nasim Pedrad, Billy Magnussen, Numan Acar, Frank Welker, and Alan Tudyk – will be in theaters on May 24th. If the excitement is become too much for you, the good news is that you can now at least partially abate those feelings by buying your ticket for opening weekend early.

Between now and the release date, be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more updates about Aladdin.

Dumbo Has A Bunch Of Fun Disneyland Nods

Dumbo Has A Bunch Of Fun Disneyland Nods

The following contains SPOILERS for the new live-action Dumbo.

A great deal of Disney's new Dumbo takes place inside a theme park. While the one in the movie technically predates Disney's first park by over 30 years, you can't have a Disney movie that includes a theme park and not have audiences thinking about the fact that a large part of Disney's global popularity comes from its theme park division.

This makes it really not much of a shock to discover that V.A. Vandevere's Dreamland includes more than a few references to Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Some are obvious, some are a bit obscure, some might not even have been intentional, and at least one is absolutely brazen, but they were all there nonetheless. Here are a few of Dumbo's theme park shout-outs.

Carousel Of Progress

We don't get to see too many of the attractions inside V.A. Vandevere's theme park beyond the Coliseum where Dumbo performs. However, one that we do see is called Wonders of Science. Milly Ferrier remarks upon it when she sees it upon first arriving at the park. Later we get to see inside it and realize just how much it owes to a classic Disneyland and Walt Disney World attraction, the Carousel of Progress.

The first Carousel of Progress was created for the New York World's Fair in 1964. After the fair closed, the attraction was moved to Disneyland, where it operated until 1973. Following that, it was moved to Walt Disney World, where it still exists today, though it has been updated several times. The attraction contains a series of vignettes where animatronic characters show us how technology has changed over the decades. The version in Dreamland appears to be a walk through-style attraction, rather than the rotating theater design of the Disney version, but it still includes segments where basic animatronics show us how different things will be in the future. Like the Disney versions of the past, accuracy leaves a little something to be desired.

Rocket To The Moon

At one point in the new Dumbo, Alan Arkin's character, J. Griffin Remington, references the idea that one day man will travel to the moon. While it wouldn't happen for about a half century, space travel was a frequent topic of fiction in the early twentieth century. This is best exemplified by an attraction at the Dreamland theme park called To The Moon.

While the To The Moon attraction appears to be some sort of roller coaster or possibly something akin to the Astro Orbiter, we never really get much of a look at it. It has a very similar name to Rocket to the Moon, an attraction that arrived shortly after Disneyland first opened in 1955. Rocket to the Moon was an early motion simulator experience, an ancestor to something like Star Tours today, though very simple. The attraction hung around until 1975 when it was updated to become Mission to Mars, since man had already been to the moon by then.

Dumbo's Circus Land/The Mickey Mouse Club Circus

Disneyland was conceived by Walt Disney in large part because of the problems he had with the then modern circus. He didn't think it was the best atmosphere for family entertainment. Having said that, he still loved the concept of the circus, and so the idea of putting a traditional circus inside a theme park, as we see in Dumbo, is something that Disney himself had also done.

The Mickey Mouse Club Circus was a very traditional circus, with both human and animal performers that opened shortly after Disneyland did, in the fall of 1955. The big top was put up approximately where the Matterhorn exists today. It didn't last long, but the circus theme very nearly came back with Dumbo's Circus Land, a land that would have put several of Disney's animal characters, including those from The Jungle Book, in a traditional circus atmosphere. The land never happened, but it shows how the link between theme park and circus has never really disappeared.

Actual Disneyland Merchandise

There may be no company in the world better at merchandising that Disney. Nearly every theme park attraction has you exit through a gift shop, and you can be sure with every new movie release there will be a host of toys and other cool stuff available for fans to buy. However, Dumbo actually takes this in a slightly different direction. Why create new merch for the new movie when you can just literally promote the stuff you already have in the film?

At a couple of points during Dumbo, we see shots of kids buying cute little plush dolls of Dumbo from a concession stand. Since it is a theme park, that's not exactly going to shock anybody. However, the twist here is that the stuffed animals the kids are walking away with are literally the same one that you can buy at Disney theme parks right now. Disney just stocked the shot with the toys that were already on hand.

Dreamland

The name of the theme park in the new Dumbo is pretty simple. It's called Dreamland. A perfectly reasonable, if not particularly creative, name for a theme park. At first, it might seem like it's a generic name that doesn't mean all that much. It's certainly got a similar name to Disneyland, but beyond that, it's probably just the first thing that came to mind. However, the name Dreamland is more connected to the name Disney than you might realize.

Following the opening of Disneyland in the 1955, a Japanese businessman named Kunizo Matsuo visited the park. He loved it and wanted to build a similar location in Japan, specifically in the nation's former capital of Nara. He worked directly with Walt Disney on the project, who was very interested in a foreign location and a park designed in the same hub and spoke pattern, with many of the same Disneyland attractions, including Sleeping Beauty's castle, spinning tea cups, and more, was constructed. However, a disagreement between Matsuo and Disney over licensing fees eventually caused Walt to pull support for the park. Everything was reworked to remove the Disney branding, and the park, which was going to be called Nara Disneyland, was renamed Nara Dreamland. The park was actually quite successful for a number of years, until the early 1980s when an actual Disneyland was built in Tokyo, at which point attendance died off and the park eventually closed.

Dumbo's history with theme parks goes back to the earliest days of Disneyland when the Casey Jr. Circus Train was an opening day attraction, and Dumbo the Flying Elephant came shortly thereafter. For Disneyland fans the rides may be more iconic that the movie that they're based on.

Disney+ Is Launching In November And The Price Is Incredible

Disney+ Is Launching In November And The Price Is Incredible

Disney's planned streaming service, Disney+, is one of the most hotly anticipated additions to the growing streaming marketplace. However, beyond the fact that the service was set to launch later this year, details have been lacking. Today, The Walt Disney Company hosted an Investor's Day where they had previously promised to reveal more about Disney+. The company did not disappoint. It's now confirmed that Disney+ will launch in the United States November 12, 2019 and a subscription price of 6.99 per month. Year long subscriptions will be available for $69.99

Bob Iger had previously said Disney+ would cost less than Netflix at launch, but I'm not sure anybody expected it to hit at about half the price. That's an incredibly aggressive move, especially considering the content that will be part of it.

Disney+ is fully expected to be a major player in the streaming game basically from day one. While other studios are planning their own streaming services as well, Disney is a different animal. The phrase "Disney movie" includes connotations that other studios simply can't match. Subscribers already know what they're getting from a Disney streaming service without having to look into it. It will be content suitable for the entire family, including some of the most popular movies ever made.

It was officially confirmed that Disney+ will be an ad free service. Also, Disney+ will allow all content on the app to be downloadable to view offline. In addition to streaming on tablets, computers and phones, the service is already confirmed to launch on Roku devices and the PlayStation 4. Disney is looking to have even more devices signed in time for launch.

Jennifer Lee, in discussing the Walt Disney Animation Studios films that will be on the service, mentioned that Frozen II will be on the service by the summer of 2020, which means films should be hitting the service six to eight months after they get released in theaters.

A lot of rumored original content from Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar was confirmed. In addition a lot of back catalog material was confirmed. Most of the Star Wars movies and many MCU films will be on the service on day one, though not quite everything will be there at launch. Most of the major films that won't be there on day one were confirmed to arrive within the first year.

Needless to say, Disney+ is going to have an impressive library of content on day one, and an even more incredible amount of content in the first year. While other streaming services like Netflix may have Disney beat in quantity, it's hard to argue Disney won't have the edge in quality. It will be interesting to see how Disney+ changes the streaming game.

Chris Hemsworth Is The Latest Actor To Throw His Hat Into The Ring To Play James Bond

Chris Hemsworth Is The Latest Actor To Throw His Hat Into The Ring To Play James Bond

While Daniel Craig will be returning for one more go-round as super spy James Bond, the 25th Bond film will almost certainly be the last for Craig, and just as certainly won't be the final James Bond movie. Many names have been thrown around as potential new James Bonds, and now Chris Hemsworth is adding his to the growing list. The actor is surprisingly open about the fact that he'd love to play James Bond.

While many might only know Hemsworth as Thor, a role that's certainly a far cry from James Bond, the actor previously played another ultra-suave Englishman when he portrayed race car driver James Hunt in Ron Howard's Rush. It was apparently first suggested to Hemsworth back then that if he could play Hunt, he could play Bond, and Hemsworth is all-in on on the idea. According to the actor...

When we were shooting Rush someone had said that and I thought, ‘Cool, if this is my audition tape, then great.’I don’t think you’ll ever meet anyone who doesn’t want to have a crack at James Bond. I’d love to do it.

Back before Daniel Craig had agreed to reprise his role as James Bond the question of who would take on the role was one of the most debated questions around. Everybody from Tom Hiddelston to Tom Hardy was suggested, and it seems several people were seriously considered as potential replacements.

Rush was a criminally under seen movie that saw Hemsworth as a Formula 1 race car driver. It may not be the perfect comparison to James Bond, but it's certainly closer to that than Hemsworth's role as Thor. It was one of the first films that showed the actor had more range than what the Marvel movies required him to show. A scene like the one below, could easily work if Hemsworth was playing a somewhat laid back version of James Bond.

Of course, while Chris Hemsworth says he'd love to play Bond, he knows it's far from that easy. As he tells Balance, there are many other people he would need to impress in order to make the short list for such a coveted role, including James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli...

But that’s up to so many elements and is way beyond myself; it’s not one you can pitch yourself on to either. It’s something that the community of Bond fans, Barbara Broccoli and the whole crew there agree on, and it has to be a very organic decision from them. There have been a lot of names thrown out there and a lot of brilliant people can tackle that one.

For what it's worth, Chris Hemsworth wouldn't be the first Australian to tackle the role of James Bond. George Lazenby, who played the role in a single film, was also Australian, so that precedent has already been set.

It will likely be years before a new James Bond is actually cast. No public decisions will be made until the newest film has been released and made its money, and maybe Daniel Craig can be talked into coming back yet again. If not, maybe Chris Hemsworth will find himself with an all new franchise.

Apparently Avengers: Endgame's Second Half Is Mind-Blowing

Apparently Avengers: Endgame's Second Half Is Mind-Blowing

Thanks to the intense secrecy of Avengers: Endgame, fans know very little of what to expect when they eventually sit down to watch the film later this month. Spectacle and tears have been assured by the filmmakers and cast, but specific plot details are locked in the vault. We still only have broad statements to work off of, but fans are apparently in for a treat, because a source claims that the second half of Endgame is "mind-blowing."

In Avengers: Endgame, the surviving members of the team must band together and find a way to reverse the damage done to the universe by Thanos -- or at least get revenge on the Mad Titan. That's already one epic logline that promises drama and action, and fan theories have risen up to try and plug the various holes. People have pitched everything from time travel to Ant-Man jumping up Thanos' butt, but whatever it ends up being, it will be absolutely wild.

Endgame is projected to have a record-breaking domestic opening that could earn as high as $300 million. As we get closer to the release date, that number could change depending on the reviews of the film. While a bad review can hurt box office performance, Deadline doesn't think Endgame has to worry about bad reviews. A reliable source who has seen the movie told the publication that the second half of Endgame is mind-blowing.

Deadline doesn't go any more specific than that, but mind-blowing feels like it's an accurate word for Endgame based on what we know already. Marvel has been hyping that it pulled off all the stops for this one, and while I think being overhyped is generally a bad thing, all evidence so far suggests Endgame will be a movie to remember.

And it's not just shadowy industry insiders who like the film. Test audiences apparently loved it, too! Per co-director Joe Russo during an interview with BoxOfficePro, Endgame had one of the highest test scores of any Marvel movie.

We’re vigilant about using test audiences to tell us whether we’re on the right track or we’re making bad decisions. With Endgame, it had one of the most incredible audience responses in Marvel history. Irrespective of the length, it’s been consistently embraced by the test audiences.

Butts likely won't be leaving seats during Endgame's wild runtime of three hours. Expect a lot more hype over these next coming weeks and be careful of the leaks that will inevitable arrive online. Something tells me going in as dry as possible will yield the best experience for everyone.

We'll finally have all of our questions answered when Avengers: Endgame arrives in theaters on April 26. To learn all the information that we do know, here's our helpful guide.

Woody Harrelson Is Having A Great Time With Zombieland: Double Tap

Woody Harrelson Is Having A Great Time With Zombieland: Double Tap

Fans are certainly hoping to enjoy the upcoming Zombieland sequel. Woody Harrelson is way ahead of us. The actor, who is currently in production on Zombieland: Double Tap, has nothing but good things to say so far. Not only does Harrelson say that the movie itself looks good, but he also adds he's personally just having a lot of fun making it. According to the actor...

What we’ve shot so far, I’m really impressed with. Getting to hang out with these guys — Emma, and Abbie, and Jesse, and Ruben — I feel so lucky, really, really lucky. You know, it’s literally laughing all day long, and that’s your job. Like, my job is, I laugh all day long? It seems unbelievable. So, I feel really lucky right now.

It often seems like actors just have the best job in the world already, but regardless of what your job is, if you don't enjoy it, it can still be a slog. Also, when people enjoy their work, the work itself tends to end up better. Based on that idea, it would seem that Zombieland: Double Tap is already shaping up to be a great movie.

Jesse Eisenberg had previously said the cast was working extra hard to make sure the movie was everything that fans have been waiting for. If they're both working hard and laughing all day, what more can you ask for?

A sequel to Zombieland has been one of those "maybe we'll get around to it" movies that fans have wanted, but never seemed to get much traction, since the original film came out a decade ago. However, it was a topic that screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick continued to be asked about and with each passing day it seemed like a sequel was slowly becoming a more likely idea. Then, last year, it was finally confirmed the sequel would actually happen.

The plot of Zombieland: Double Tap has not been officially revealed. Although, there have been rumors that it will focus on the team of Colombus (Jesse Eisenberg), Tallahassee (Harrelson), and Wichita (Emma Stone) chasing after Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) who has run away. Another rumor has indicated Bill Murray may actually reprise his popular cameo from the first film. He may also bring fellow Ghostbuster Dan Aykroyd with him.

A number of new characters will join the returning squad. Rosario Dawson, Zoey Deutch, and Luke Wilson are joining the cast. Most of the details are still under wraps concerning who they are or how they'll fit in the plot.

The details are less important than the film as a whole, and Woody Harrelson's comments to EW make it sound that the movie is going to be just as much fun as the well loved original. Zombieland: Double Tap is set to hit theaters October 11.

Captain Marvel Really Fumbled Two Important Characters And We Don't Get Why

Captain Marvel Really Fumbled Two Important Characters And We Don't Get Why

Warning: SPOILERS are ahead!

Just because Captain Marvel is set in 1995, 13 years before the modern events of the Marvel Cinematic Universe unfolded, doesn’t mean that the movie didn’t have ties to other corners of this superhero franchise. Unquestionably the biggest example of this was pairing Nick Fury with Carol Danvers and showing how the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent learned about superheroes and aliens, as well as how he lost his 20/20 vision. But he wasn’t the only familiar face who appeared in Captain Marvel: Guardians of the Galaxy villains Ronan the Accuser and Korath the Pursuer also popped in during Carol’s origin story. The movie could have been a platform to make both of those characters more interesting, but unfortunately, it failed to accomplish this.

It’s been nearly five full years since we first met Lee Pace’s Ronan and Djimon Honsou’s Korath, with Guardians of the Galaxy showing the latter serving the former in his quest to wipe out Xandar. Since Korath was Guardians of the Galaxy’s tertiary antagonist, it was hardly surprising that he wasn’t fleshed out during the movie, but even though we knew about Ronan’s radicalism and his disgust with the Kree empire signing a peace treaty with Xandar, he failed to come off as a fascinating villain. Ultimately both those characters were killed by the Guardians, and so naturally it was assumed for years that’s the first and only time we’d ever see them in the MCU.

Then it was announced around this time last year that younger versions of Ronan and Korath would appear in Captain Marvel, which made sense given that like her comic book counterpart, Brie Larson’s Carol’s origins are tied to the Kree. Since Captain Marvel takes place a little over two decades before Guardians of the Galaxy, that’s enough time for these two to be portrayed at least slightly differently than they were before. More importantly, Captain Marvel could foreshadow how these two are put on the path that ends with them being Kree outcasts set on destroying an entire planet.

So what does the movie do with Ronan and Korath? Well, Korath is a member of Starforce alongside Carol, Yon-Rogg, Minn-Erva, Att-Lass and Bron-Char. Outside Korath talking about his experience with facing down a Skrull and the other members joking at the beginning of Captain Marvel about how he’s humorless, which Korath strongly denies (he laughs, just on the inside), he doesn’t get any focus. He’s with the other Starforce operatives as they carry out their missions on Torfa and Earth (the latter including Mar-Vell’s base in orbit), but there’s nothing that particularly highlights him compared to his Kree partners other than Yon-Rogg. Minn-Erva arguably stands out more because at least she was gunned down by Maria Rambeau while chasing after Carol.

As for Ronan, we find out why he’s called the Accuser: because he was part of the of the same-named division of the Kree military, which would see him ordering warheads to be dropped on planets to wipe out the enemy Skrulls. Although there’s a official still of Ronan in the same room as the Starforce, in the final Captain Marvel cut, he never had any direct face time with them. Instead, he communicated with the team over hologram, first blaming Yon-Rogg for their failure on Torfa and then arriving to Earth after Yon-Rogg contacted him about eliminating Talos and the other Skrulls. Still a dutiful servant of the Kree empire at this stage of his life, Yon-Rogg ordered that Earth be bombed, but the fully-powered Carol Danvers destroyed the warheads and one of his ships, prompting him to order a retreat and declare that he would return to capture Carol and use her as a weapon.

Given how things turned out for Ronan in Guardians of the Galaxy and that Carol Danvers is alive and well in the present day, obviously he didn’t fulfill this promise, but that’s beside the point. The point is that Captain Marvel failed to effectively use Ronan and Korath. Obviously these two were never going to be the most important players in this movie, but it’s a problem when you could replace either of them with other characters, be they also from the Marvel Comics pages or original creations, and the story wouldn’t be any different. There was nothing about these younger depictions of Ronan and Korath that made them more compelling.

Ronan in particular suffers as a result. Xandar doesn’t factor into Captain Marvel whatsoever, but it still would have been great if something laid the groundwork for Ronan to become the zealot we met in Guardians of the Galaxy. Maybe something could have happened during his mission on Earth that made him realize the Kree empire, more specifically the Supreme Intelligence, is not infallible. Instead, he’s just as loyal to his Kree superiors at the end of the movie, and now we’ve been teased about a goal of his that we probably won’t ever see. Although a hypothetical Captain Marvel 2 could take a page from Wonder Woman 1984’s book and be set in the interim decades between when she left with the Skrulls and when she returned post-Decimation, but that hasn’t even been rumored yet.

In Korath’s case, it would have been nice to learn how he became affiliated with Ronan, because while the two of them do technically share screen time since Korath is near Yon-Rogg as the Starforce leader talking with Ronan over hologram, Korath and Ronan never actually interact with one another. Korath presumably already knew about Ronan by reputation, but we get no sense in Captain Marvel in why Korath would be willing to abandon the Kree empire to serve Ronan years later. Maybe Starforce’s failure to eliminate the Skrulls and bring back Carol Danvers resulted in Korath, Yon-Rogg and the surviving members being demoted, which could lead to Korath’s own disillusionment, but there’s absolutely no hint of that by the time the credits roll.

Captain Marvel did a good job of telling Carol Danvers’ origin story, revealing how Nick Fury started to become the badass spymaster we know best, and delivering a welcome twist by not depicting the Skrulls as pure evil. Unfortunately for Ronan and Korath, they were underserved in the story, and their actions here don’t do anything to improve how they were shown in Guardians of the Galaxy. It was definitely a wasted opportunity.

Let us know what you thought of how Ronan the Accuser and Korath the Pursuer were used in Captain Marvel below. While it remains to if we’ll ever see these incarnations of the characters ever again, Carol Danvers will be back for Avengers: Endgame on April 26.