Jurassic Park’s Jeff Goldblum Had The Best Response To Real Life Scientists Trying To Create Dinosaurs

Jurassic Park’s Jeff Goldblum Had The Best Response To Real Life Scientists Trying To Create Dinosaurs

When Jurassic Park was first written and then transformed into a blockbuster movie, the idea of recreating dinosaurs was pure science fiction. However, so often the only thing keeping science fiction from becoming reality is time, and now it appears that researchers think that bringing dinosaurs back from extinction is only a matter of time. If this strikes you as a supremely bad idea, because you've seen how this movie ends, you're not the only one. Jeff Goldblum sounded off on the news as well, as only he could...

Jeff Goldblum channels his character from Jurassic Park, Ian Malcolm, and quotes himself in reference to whether or not bringing dinosaurs back is a good idea. As every Jurassic Park movie showed us, it was all a very bad idea.

And yet, it seems that scientists are trying to do exactly that. To be fair, it's not all exactly like Jurassic Park. It seems that due to the degradation that happens to DNA over time, actually finding actual dinosaur DNA would never actually work. Instead, it seems that the idea currently being worked on is taking the relationship between dinosaurs and modern birds and using that as the gateway to bring them back. The feeling is that it's possible to take a chicken's DNA and modify it in such a way that you could turn it into a small dino-chicken.

I don't see that as the plot of a future Jurassic Park sequel, but it is, without question, the the premise of a low budget knockoff where a flock of genetically modified chickens destroy a small Midwestern town.

In the end, this wouldn't recreate any species of dinosaur that ever existed, but I suppose it would give scientists an opportunity to study the closest possible thing. At the same time, one has to wonder what this does to the "chickensoras" which is seriously what they're actually calling it. Isn't it cruel and unusual to turn a chicken into something like that?

If we are really only five years away from a creating a version of a dinosaur, that is surely impressive, but Jeff Goldblum's comments do come ringing back. Just because science is capable of doing that, is that really something that science should be doing? It's not really clear exactly what the point actually is. There's only so much you'll be able to learn about actual dinosaurs by creating this artificial one. It seems like most of the important stuff would still be out of reach.

Still, we'll want to keep our eyes on this. If we're really only five years away, then somewhere between now and 2024 we could be looking at our own Jurassic Park. Even if it turns out to be little more than a petting zoo.

Are The Spider-Man Movies Building To The Sinister Six?

Are The Spider-Man Movies Building To The Sinister Six?

Once upon a time, there was a plan. The Spider-Man movies being made by Sony were going to introduce a bunch of villains – including the Rhino (Paul Giamatti), a Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan) and Electro (Jamie Foxx) – and eventually team them in a villain ensemble movie, The Sinister Six. Those plans changed when Sony shifted its Spider-Man to Marvel Studios, with Tom Holland taking over for Andrew Garfield.

But the idea of a Sinister Six movie still sounds incredibly intriguing, and there’s no shortage of bad guys at play in the MCU’s version of Spidey. Michael Keaton already has introduced The Vulture. Michael Mando briefly appeared as a possible Scorpion. And we saw two Shockers in Spider-Man: Homecoming. We’re about to meet a bunch of new villains in Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Venom (Tom Hardy) now exists in the universe, so we wondered if The Sinister Six was somewhere on the radar.

While interviewing Spider-Man: Far From Home executive producer Eric Carroll on the film’s London set, we asked him about this idea, and he told us:

I don't know some of these plans for what's going forward. I do know that, obviously, getting someone like Jake [Gyllenhaal] to do a role like [Quentin] Beck is something we definitely think sets some really fun things up. But as to specifics, right now, I think everyone thinks we're dodging these questions -- and I especially don't want to speak to Sony's plans -- but we kind of take these movies one at a time. If we have that right idea, I think that's something audiences would love, for sure. I do think it's something people have been wanting for a long time. So, I can't imagine it's not somebody's dream project? But it's not something we're specifically building to at the moment.

That’s sad to hear, but somewhat understandable. If there was going to be a Sinister Six movie, we actually could see it taking shape on the Sony side of things, where the studio has successfully launched its own Spider-Universe with Venom and the in-production Morbius. There are plans underway for stories with Silver Sable and Black Cat, so if a Six feature were to form, it likely would be born from those collaborations.

That’s also a great excuse to bring Tom Holland over from his Marvel Studios duties and use him in a Sony Spider-Man movie. But this would happen way down the road, as these large ensemble pics take years to develop properly, and the way that Eric Carroll tells it, no plans currently are underway.

For now, Spidey fans can look forward to the young hero’s European vacation, which will take him away from New York City and pair him with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) as they battle Elemental creatures from a multiverse dimension. Crazy!

Spider-Man: Far From Home opens in theaters on July 2.

Chris Pratt Is ‘Really Proud’ Of Disney For Rehiring James Gunn

Chris Pratt Is ‘Really Proud’ Of Disney For Rehiring James Gunn

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been on a serious roll in Phase Three, as every single blockbuster has been a critical and box office hit. The last decade of filmmaking will come to a head when Avengers: Endgame arrives in theaters, and the reviews and early reception are overwhelmingly positive. As the current phase of movies comes to a close we must look to the future, including James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

The Guardians threequel was originally set to be one of the first installments in Marvel's Phase Four. But James Gunn was fired this past July, after controversial tweets from a decade ago resurfaced and Disney attempted to distance itself from the writer/director. The House of Mouse recently did an about-face, signing Gunn back on to complete Guardians 3 following his DC debut, The Suicide Squad. Chris Pratt recently responded to Gunn's reinstatement, saying:

I was so thrilled, so excited. I think it’s the right move, I really stand behind it. I’m really proud of Disney for hiring James back and ultimately thrilled for not only us, but also for the fans. I think it’s going to wrap up the trilogy in the best way.

Despite originally not wanting to audition for Star-Lord, it looks like Chris Pratt couldn't imagine Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 without the full crew. This obviously includes James Gunn, who puts everything from his music taste, to his dance moves, to his sense of humor into the beloved Marvel franchise.

Chris Pratt's comments to People echoes the the sentiments of most Marvel fans. The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is arguably the MCU's most director-driven property, and the threequel seemed all but impossible without James Gunn's perspective. What's more, he had completed a draft of Guardians 3's script shortly before being fired, and that script was necessary in order to keep the story and maintain the cast.

Of course, Star-Lord's support of James Gunn shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Shortly after his departure, the Guardians of the Galaxy cast penned a letter in support of the director, signed by the all the starring actors. This includes Chris Pratt, who kept the secret of Gunn's pending reinstatement as he took questions about the Marvel drama.

Related: Sean Gunn Explains Why Brother James Wasn’t At The Avengers: Endgame Premiere

There were a number of months between James Gunn's firing and reinstatement, with production on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 put on indefinite hold following his departure. This opened Gunn open to take on projects like The Suicide Squad, so it's unclear exactly when the Guardians threequel will arrive in theaters. But hopefully those answers will come once Marvel revealed its post-Endgame plans.

Despite fading to dust in Avengers: Infinity War's horrifying twist ending, Chris Pratt's Star-Lord is expected to (somehow) appear in Avengers: Endgame when it hits theaters on April 26th. In the meantime, fill out CinemaBlend's Endgame death pool, and check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

How Dennis Quaid Got The Dogs’ Attention On The Set of A Dog’s Journey

How Dennis Quaid Got The Dogs’ Attention On The Set of A Dog’s Journey

The story in the Dog's movies center on a pooch who finds his way back to his owner across a number lifetimes as different dogs. It will soon continue with A Dog’s Journey, which will pick up with Dennis Quaid’s character, who is now a grandfather.

Since the film will follow a new generation of Bailey’s reincarnations, Dennis Quaid is one of the few threads that bind the pair of movies together and it sure showed on set when he’d work with the puppers. When Iwe recently sat down with Quaid and Marg Helgenberger, who plays Ethan’s wife Hannah in the flick, she shared a bit of the actor’s claim to fame. Check it out in their words:

Marg: Dennis just knew how to work with dogs. The way he put food on his face to get the dogs to react or be on his shoulder on a certain spot.

Dennis: You look like a dog whisperer when you do stuff like that.

Marg: Yeah, you seem like a real trainer. I was impressed.

Dennis: Yeah, well, I'm the one who was trained.

Ah yes, food! That’s definitely the ticket to get in with the dogs!! As Marg explained, Dennis would place some on his face to get the animal actors to react to him on camera or do specific tricks, and it looks like it worked. He of course has had some experience on the prior film, while she was stepping onto the saga for the first time with A Dog’s Journey. The actress played Hannah for the sequel, replacing Peggy Lipton, who passed away a few days ago of colon cancer at the age of 72.

Dennis Quaid isn’t only a skilled dog whisperer of sorts, he’s a lover of man’s best friend. In our interview, he elaborated about why they’ve been an important element of his life. Here’s what he said:

I’ve always had dogs, all my life, and I need them around. They chew me out and look at me like: ‘What’s the problem?’ They are always there for you, they’re your best friend, they don’t judge you and they’re always ready to go.

Isn’t that the truth! Dennis Quaid is certainly passionate about puppers and having them there to keep him in check is one of the many reasons why. You can imagine how great of an acting partner a dog is with all those traits above their paws. Check out the pair talk during the exclusive interview below :

A Dog’s Journey comes a few months after the release of A Dog’s Way Home, which may not be directly connected storywise, but shares the same roots – they’re both based on novels and scripts by W. Bruce Cameron. This film centers on Ethan’s granddaughter CJ as she must grow up apart from them, but has a protector in Bailey as his reincarnations continually bring him back to her.

The film opens this Friday, May 17 alongside John Wick 3 and The Sun is Also A Star. Will you be checking out the touching tale this weekend? Let us know your thoughts below.

New Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Video Pokes Fun At Ghidorah’s Name

New Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Video Pokes Fun At Ghidorah’s Name

If you thought 2014’s Godzilla and 2017’s Kong: Skull Island were crazy, Godzilla: King of the Monsters is kicking things up several notches on the chaos scale. This latest MonsterVerse entry is introducing three new monsters (that we know of), including the three-headed King Ghidorah. While Ghidroah is arguably the most dangerous of Godzilla’s new foes, a new preview for King of the Monsters takes some shots at the beast’s unusual name.

T here’s no question that King Ghidorah is a towering monstrosity and looking to be the biggest threat the MonsterVerse has introduced yet, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it has a weird name. This Godzilla: King of the Monsters TV spot highlights that when one of the characters asks about its “catchy name.” Kyle Chandler’s Mark Russell doesn’t understand it right away and Thomas Middleditch’s Sam Coleman notes how the name sounds like ‘Gonorrhea.’ They’d better hope that Ghidorah doesn’t have enhanced hearing on top of its many other abilities.

Weird name aside, King Ghidorah is shaping up to be the biggest threat in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which is saying a lot given how much destruction we’ve seen in the footage shown so far. Ghidorah is joined by Rodan and Mothra, though it should be noted that the latter is usually depicted as a benevolent creature in the Toho monster movies from Japan, so perhaps it won’t be giving humanity too much trouble. Regardless, in keeping with the monster’s numerous appearance in the Toho movies over the decades, King of the Monsters’ King Ghidorah is described as Godzilla’s arch-nemesis, so it’s a good bet that the sequel’s climactic confrontation will be between these two.

Picking up five years after the events of Godzilla with the entire world now knowing about the existence of the Titans, Godzilla: King of the Monsters sees Monarch crossing paths with all of these monsters as they vie for supremacy and put humanity’s very existence at stake. We can at least take comfort knowing that Earth won’t be destroyed since Godzilla vs. Kong arrives next year, but there will definitely be mass casualties due to these monsters wreaking havoc, many of which we can likely lay at Kind Ghidorah’s feet… or wings.

Along with the previously mentioned actors, Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ main cast includes Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins, Bradley Whitford, Charles Dance, Aisha Hinds, O’Shea Jackson Jr., David Strathairn and Zhang Ziyi. Each of King Ghidorah’s heads is played a different actor: Jason Liles, Alan Maxson and Richard Dorton.

Directed by Michael Dougherty, who also co-wrote the script with Zach Shields, Godzilla: King of the Monsters rampages into theaters on May 31. If you’re interested in learning what other movies are coming out later this year, head to out 2019 release schedule.

The Rise Of Skywalker Trailer Has Been Watched A Record-Breaking Number Of Times

The Rise Of Skywalker Trailer Has Been Watched A Record-Breaking Number Of Times

For months Star Wars fans waited for the first footage from what we then simply knew as Episode IX to drop, and on Friday, April 12, their wish was finally granted. The teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premiered at Star Wars Celebration and was made available to the public immediately after. Nearly two weeks later, word’s come in that this trailer collected more views in its first 24 hours than The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi’s first trailers did.

In its first day of availability, the first Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker trailer was watched more than 111 million times. That’s 20 million more views than what The Last Jedi’s teaser trailer and more than double the views that The Force Awakens’ teaser trailer got in its first 24 hours back in late November of 2014.

Now if you look at some other recent trailers for blockbusters that also hail from Disney, like last year’s Avengers: Infinity War, this weekend’s Avengers: Endgame and this summer’s The Lion King, that 111 million views doesn’t look all that impressive. But it’s important to remember that this year, Star Wars Celebration streamed its Episode IX panel live to the world, which included showing the teaser at the very end. This is in contrast to Marvel’s traditional method of dropping a trailer ‘cold,’ i.e. not during a live-streamed event.

In terms of how the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker trailer has been faring overall since it premiered, it received 87 million views through YouTube views alone from various channels, which outpaces Rogue One’s 87 million, but still lags behind The Force Awakens’ 103 million and The Last Jedi’s 119 million. There isn’t any data on how it’s done on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram views, but Deadline’s report also mentions that even if you just look at the YouTube performance, the preview is going viral “like crazy.”

Let’s not kid ourselves, Star Wars is still an incredibly lucrative and popular franchise, so it was expected that a lot of people would check out the first trailer for The Rise of Skywalker, not the least of which is because this preview is where the movie’s title was finally revealed. Still, it’s intriguing to hear that this teaser trailer has outperformed its predecessors. I imagine word of mouth factored heavily into its success, particularly for that surprise Emperor Palpatine reveal.

Aside from being the final chapter of the Skywalker Saga and taking place approximately a year after The Last Jedi, no specific plot details for The Rise of Skywalker have been revealed yet. Along with familiar faces like Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams and Ian McDiarmid all returning to a galaxy far, far away, new faces like Naomi Ackie, Keri Russell, Richard E. Grant and Dominic Monaghan have also been brought aboard.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens in theaters on December 20, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for continuing coverage. In the meantime, look through our 2019 release schedule to lear what other major motion pictures are coming out this year.

In Defense Of Will Smith’s Big Blue Genie In Aladdin

In Defense Of Will Smith’s Big Blue Genie In Aladdin

There’s been a lot written about Disney’s live action Aladdin adaptation, much of it related to Will Smith’s portrayal of the blue genie. Although many fans haven’t caught the big, all-powerful character in action yet, early looks at the sorcerer in the trailer didn’t have a lot of people pumped. In fact, a healthy percentage of those on social media openly expressed concern or frustration.

During the first look at Aladdin, fans were not impressed by how ridiculously blue the big guy looked. The criticism online got so bad that Disney even felt the need to address it, noting at the time:

We have one of the most anticipated films of the year and are confident that audiences will fall in love with the Genie and all of the characters when it hits the big screen this May.

At Cinema-Con, more people heard from the Genie, who sang, danced and went for it with a hip-hop influenced version of “Friend Like Me,” which Will Smith has also performed on the press circuit ahead of the release of Aladdin. Some of the people around me were openly snickering and talking about how bad they thought it was.

The thing is, Will Smith’s version of Aladdin’s Genie is spectacular.

It would be hard to top Robin Williams in the role, but Will Smith doesn’t even try. Instead he brings his own energy and presence (although he keeps the hairdo). No doubt fans will recognize some similarities to Williams’ original version, particularly in lines like “itty bitty living space,” but for the most part, this is a nice, new creation, brought to life on the back of Will Smith’s lovable and unique energy. The result is one of the biggest reasons why Aladdin is a fun and breezy movie that does bring feelings of nostalgia, but also has a fresh new coat of paint.

The Genie is, by definition, a showy character. He’s loud, fast-paced and frantic. Given that and the fact that fans really liked the Genie in the original animated Aladdin, there’s no way there wouldn’t be some clear overlap between the new and original versions. The much-discussed rendition of “Friend Like Me” illustrates that and out of context, created a stir among those angry fans.

In context, however, it becomes very clear what a great job Will Smith did here. There are enough similarities that fans will recognize and appreciate the Genie, but there are enough clear differences here to feel original and unique. That’s not an easy line to walk. Only someone with the charisma and the grandiosity of Will Smith could pull off the showy, over the top parts of the Genie without feeling like a less impressive karaoke version of Robin Williams and yet still have the acting confidence to play some of his scenes with a much quieter and serious energy. He goes big without feeling like a copy and yet pulls back enough to have some real heart.

Recently, Will Smith revealed that he based his version of the Genie on the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air character who helped to kickstart his career back in the nineties. You can see that, but to me, that may be a bit too simplistic. Smith deserves more credit than that. You won’t see this and think, “Oh, that’s just a blue Fresh Prince”. Only after hearing the comparison will you think, “Oh, that makes sense.”

Guy Ritchie and Will Smith definitely put a lot of effort into making the movie feel different. Let’s talk more specifically about some of those differences with minor spoilers. So, if you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t want to know anything, then go ahead and bail now.

Will Smith’s live action genie strives to be human, but also to find meaning in family. He actually has a love interest just like Prince Ali of Ababwa in the film, played by Nasim Pedrad. The two bounce off one another comedically onscreen, leading to some of the film’s funniest moments. The dynamic between the two also helps us to see a different side of the Genie’s personality that doesn’t typically have a chance to come out.

The basic formatting of the story helps with differentiation too. Guy Ritchie took a long-touted and recently confirmed fan theory and totally rolled with it in this new version, making the Genie the man telling the story of Aladdin, Jasmine, a magic lamp and Agrabah. This choice gives him more agency and allows us to interact with him outside of the narrative framework of the basic story we’re all familiar with.

Those choices, plus a few more I won’t spoil here, all serve to give us a Genie that is familiar and identifiable but also new, different and exciting, which is, I think what we all wanted. It would have been stupid to create a live action Aladdin that was a shot-for-shot remake of the original, filled with the same characters we’ve all around seen. That being said, it would have also been stupid to create a movie filled with characters so different from the original there was no point in even calling it Aladdin.

Sure, he’s big and he’s blue. Sure, the character Will Smith is playing is a little ridiculous and can’t ever possibly eclipse Robin Williams’ beloved original. But he gives a really good performance here, filled with charm and enough originality to keep fans entertained. It’s a performance that takes the zaniness of playing an all-powerful-but-blue being and strikes the balance between going big and pulling back.

Will Smith doesn’t deserve all the criticism he’s gotten over the past few months. He’s good in Aladdin. A lot of fans are going to love the choices he made with his character, and if nothing else, this should serve as a good reminder that sometimes it’s really hard to judge standalone scenes or trailers without the proper context. So, go see it and decide for yourself. Don’t take the grumblings on social media from people who haven’t even seen the movie as evidence you should stay away. I had a good time with his character and the larger movie, and I suspect a lot of others will too.