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Monday, February 10, 2020

Brie Larson Thanks Fans For Getting Captain Marvel Up To $1 Billion

Brie Larson Thanks Fans For Getting Captain Marvel Up To $1 Billion

It was only a couple of days ago that Captain Marvel rang up its billionth dollar of grosses from eager fans all over the world. But good news never outstays its welcome, as that film’s star and the figure poised to bring the Marvel Cinematic Universe to new heights in Phase 4, Brie Larson, celebrated in a very special way. Larson shared the following artwork, as well as a heartfelt note, commemorating the occasion:


Along with her message of how higher, further and faster Captain Marvel has come in its relatively short run, Brie Larson also included a vibrant piece from artist Tracie Ching’s hand. Reflecting the red, gold and blue color scheme of the titular hero, it shows off Carol’s heroic mohawk that shows through her space helmet. It's an iconic look for a fan favorite hero brought to life in living color.


Now don’t go thinking that Captain Marvel’s cruise past $1 billion is routine, even if the bountiful empire of Marvel Studios’ recent films might have you believing otherwise. Carol Danvers’ debut is only the seventh film out of the 21 film-run that’s made movie history in the past 11 years of operation. But even with that caveat laid down, it’s still a pretty impressive feat, and it’s definitely a moment worthy of sharing some splashy artwork with the masses.




Those very fans have carried this film past a lot of the early trolling that was visited upon Captain Marvel, a phenomenon that reportedly had pretty big effects on YouTube’s proprietary algorithm. Not to mention, there was that time that some ill-tempered fans tried to pit the film against what was, in name, the original “Captain Marvel,” DC’s current superhero offering Shazam!


But, as in most superhero tales, the goodness of the fans prevailed, and Captain Marvel went on to crush the box office. While the film’s actual story content may not have an effect on how Avengers: Endgame is going to play out thematically, it definitely sets up a foundation of success for the film’s blockbuster debut, set to bow at the end of this month. In fact, it doesn’t look like an eighth billion dollar hit for Marvel Studios will probably be too far behind.


As Avengers: Endgame is breaking all sorts of presale records, and ticketing apps, in its quest to box office glory, this Twitter post commemorating the continued success of the MCU through Captain Marvel promises fans, and the entire world, that the best is yet to come. And Carol Danvers is going to be around for all of the festivities, as she and the Avengers have a plan to defeat Thanos once and for all.




That plan will come into full effect in Avengers: Endgame, which infiltrates theaters on April 26.

Dumbo: Everything We Know About Disney's Live Action Remake

Dumbo: Everything We Know About Disney's Live Action Remake
drunk Dumbo

2019 is going to be a big year for Disney's live-action remakes of their famous animated films. There will be no fewer than three of them coming this year, including Aladdin and The Lion King both coming as big summer releases. The first entry of the year, however, will be the reinvention of Disney's flying elephant, Dumbo. It feels like something of an unusual choice for a remake, but based on the cast and the crew that is making the new Dumbo a reality, it does seem that the right people are involved to make this one something special.


While many of Disney's remakes have been fairly true retellings of the original story, Dumbo is different in that it will be creating a lot of brand new material to complete the tale of the misfit elephant. The basic premise is all still there, but there's a lot more involved. Here's everything we know about Disney's upcoming live-action remake of Dumbo.


What Have We Seen From Dumbo?


Luckily, we no longer have to wonder what the eponymous elephant will look like in this re-imagining of the classic Disney tale. A teaser trailer for Dumbo dropped in mid-June 2018, followed by a full trailer in November giving us some good looks at the cute little guy, along with many of his human co-stars. And, from what we've seen it certainly looks like it could stack up to be a wonderfully magical story.




What Is Dumbo Rated?


Dumbo has been rated PG by the MPAA. This puts the film on par with all four of Disney's most recent, live-action remakes, Maleficent, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and Beauty and the Beast have ended up with PG ratings. While the original Dumbo was a G-rated affair, it seems quite difficult to secure that rating these days. Although, the live-action 101 Dalmatians remake from 1996 did manage it. It's hard to imagine what could be added to Dumbo that might make it unsuitable for young kids, though the original movie did include an elephant getting drunk, which probably gets you at least a PG-rating today.


What Is Dumbo's Release Date?


Dumbo will be Disney's second major release for 2019. On March 8 Marvel will open things with Captain Marvel and Dumbo will follow close behind on March 29, 2019. It releases the week after Godzilla sequel Godzilla: King of the Monsters and the week before DC comics movie Shazam. There are also a number of potential competitors for the family movie dollar being released around the same time, with the long-awaited How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World opening in February. While Dumbo is opening outside of the "summer movie season" it's opening in the same window that the Beauty and the Beast remake did, so major box office success is certainly possible.


What Is Dumbo About?


The original Dumbo was Disney's fourth animated feature, and its story is fairly simple, as shown by the film's 64-minute runtime. Dumbo is born, is mistreated by the other animals due to his abnormally large ears, and is befriended by a mouse who then helps him discover his talent for flight which the ears provide. This makes Dumbo a circus star. There isn't a lot more there, which explains why the new film will be adding a lot to the story, primarily through new human characters.




This version of Dumbo will primarily focus on a character named Holt Ferrier, a former circus star who is now a different man having returned from war. He is hired by circus owner Max Medici to take care of Dumbo, a newborn elephant who is a circus laughing stock largely due to his oversized ears. However, after Holt's children discover that Dumbo can fly, entrepreneur V.A. Vandevere and aerialist Colette Marchant insert themselves as they see star potential, and money, in Dumbo.


The Director


Dumbo promises to be a unique film and Disney has certainly succeeded in getting a unique director to bring it to life. Tim Burton is behind the camera on the new remake which promises to make Dumbo a little weird in a very special way. Burton is no stranger to working with Disney. He got his start in film working with Disney animation on films like The Fox and the Hound and The Black Cauldron. He then returned to the House of Mouse to make movies such as his feature-length Frankenweenie and one of Disney's most successful live-action remakes, Alice in Wonderland. While Burton isn't necessarily known for it, films like Big Fish show that he is perfectly capable of the sort of movie that warms your heart, which we can expect Dumbo will ultimately be.


The Writer


The screenplay for this new version of Dumbo comes from Ehren Kruger. Kruger may not be a household name but he's responsible for some of the biggest movies ever made. He wrote or co-wrote three of the Transformers sequels but may be better known to horror movie fans as the writer of Scream 3 and the first two of The Ring movies among others. He's also written fan favorites like The Brothers Grimm, Reindeer Games and Arlington Road and movies that weren't necessarily favorites, like the recent Ghost in the Shell remake with Scarlett Johansson. There really isn't anything on his resume that looks anything like what we expect Dumbo to be, which could indicate a very different sort of movie or it could indicate Kruger is taking his first shot at something very different for him.




Will There Be Music In Dumbo?


Following the smash hit that was the Beauty and the Beast remake, one always has to wonder how Disney's classic music might be handled by the remake. The original Dumbo isn't a musical in the traditional sense, as most of the music isn't actually sung by the characters. Still, there are a few well-known songs from Dumbo including "Baby Mine," "When I See an Elephant Fly" and "Casey Jr." That last song is especially noteworthy as a promotional picture of director Tim Burton (see above) shows him on board the film's circus train which is very clearly labeled as being Casey Jr.


However, Dumbo won't be a musical. Like Cinderella and Maleficent, we'd expect to hear modern covers of the film's most famous songs, likely included over the end credits rather than part of the story proper. The film's trailer does include a version of "Baby Mine," the movie's tear-jearker, which could very likely be played at the same point in the new film.


Dumbo


Of all the characters in the new Dumbo, the one we seem to know the least about is the title character. In the original Dumbo, the elephant is completely mute, and that appears to be the case here as well. Dumbo is being brought to life via the same computer animation that made the animals of The Jungle Book look real. It seems like Dumbo may end up being more of a secondary character in his own story, with the focus being on the humans that surround him and how they treat him.




Holt Farrier


The part of Holt Farrier, the war vet who becomes Dumbo's caretaker will be played by Colin Farrell. Farrell most recently worked with Disney on Saving Mr. Banks, the story of the making of Mary Poppins, where he played the father of P.L. Travers in the flashback sequences. From everything that we know about the plot, it sounds like, if Dumbo isn't really our main character, Farrier is. He'll likely be the one fighting to keep Dumbo safe while others attempt to take advantage of him once it is discovered what he can do. At one point it was rumored that Will Smith was attached to Dumbo, and it's likely this is the role Smith would have played. Instead, Will Smith will appear in another Disney remake a couple months after Dumbo comes out, as the Genie in Aladdin.


Max Medici


The role of circus owner Max Medici will be played by Danny DeVito. DeVito previously voiced the trainer of heroes Philoctetes (aka Phil) in Disney's animated Hercules. He also previously worked with director Tim Burton in Batman Returns as the Penguin. There is a Ringmaster character in the original animated Dumbo who is likely the basis for this character, but he doesn't have much impact on the story. Whether he is a benevolent circus owner who loves his animals, or a cruel one who mistreats them, is not clear. DeVito is certainly capable of taking the character in either direction. Though he probably isn't the main villain of the movie, as that role appears to be played by somebody else.


V.A. Vandevere


Michael Keaton will play the role of entrepreneur V. A. Vandevere. Keaton hasn't done a major production for Walt Disney Pictures before, though he has provided voices for Pixar in both the Toy Story and Cars franchise in years past. Like Danny DeVito, he worked with Tim Burton on the Batman movies, in the title role back in the late '80s and early '90s. We know from the official plot synopsis that Vandevere will see the potential for money in Dumbo's ability to fly and look to cash in on this. The trailer makes it pretty clear that this is our villain of the piece. Dumbo will be exploited by the unscrupulous businessman, while those that helped raise the little elephant will try to protect him.




Tom Hanks was originally rumored to be in the running to play the villain of Dumbo and while that didn't pan out, Michael Keaton brings a lot of the same stature to the role. Although, seeing Tom Hanks play a bad guy would have been a shocking thing. Michael Keaton in the same role is a lot easier to buy.


Colette Marchant


Eva Green will play what appears to be the major female role in Dumbo as an aerialist named Colette Marchant. She's an associate of V.A. Vandevere and it sounds like the two may be business partners in addition to Marchant being a circus performer herself. This likely means that Green will be a villain as well, assuming that she knows everything that her colleague is up to. This will be Eva Green's third production with Tim Burton following the recent Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and 2012's Dark Shadows.


J. Griffin Remington


The last character of note is named J. Griffen Remington and will be played by Oscar winner Alan Arkin. We know very little about the character beyond the fact that he's a "Wall Street tycoon." If I were to guess, he's probably a potential money source for Michael Keaton's character, who will need money in order to make Dumbo the massive attraction he envisions. That's all speculation, however. The character has only been seen briefly, in a short sneak peek video that was released in February, and it's not revealed how the character will fit into the plot. With Arkin in the role we can be fairly confident the part is important, but since the character doesn't get a mention in the official plot synopsis, it's hard to guess how he'll fit into the story.




Other Dumbo Characters And References


The most conspicuous absences here are all the characters that we actually remember from the animated version of Dumbo. Timothy Q. Mouse, an actual mouse who befriends Dumbo, was the major speaking role in the animated movie. We briefly see a mouse in ringmaster garb in the trailer, implying that we'll get a few references to the animated movie in places where the story has changed.


We also see a black feather that Dumbo plays with in the trailer. This is a clear reference to the "magic feather" that Dumbo receives, which he believes is the thing that allows him to fly. This likely means he won't be receiving it from a flock of crows, which, if you remember the original animated film, is a good thing.


Disney's live-action remakes have been largely successful with audiences in recent years. However, the additions to Dumbo will make this the first movie since Maleficent to tell a significantly different story than the animated movie that inspired it. The question is, just how open is the audience to seeing a very different story of Dumbo? We don't have much longer to wait until we find out.



New Spider-Man: Far From Home Trailer Moves On After Avengers: Endgame

New Spider-Man: Far From Home Trailer Moves On After Avengers: Endgame

We’re out of the Endgame now. The MCU is in a bold new place, where beloved characters have moved on, and it’s time for the universe – as a whole – to pick up the pieces. One of the first movies tasked with picking up the baton and running with it post-Avengers: Endgame is Jon Watts’ sequel Spider-Man: Far From Home, and we now have a better idea why Peter Parker (Tom Holland) wants to take a break from superhero adventures in this movie. The second full trailer just arrived from Sony and Marvel Studios. Let’s see what’s up with the webslinger:


Well, that was chock full of shocking MCU surprises! From the jump, Tom Holland is warning people that this trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home will contain spoilers for Avengers: Endgame, and it really, really does. Peter is grieving the loss of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), with Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) telling Pete that Tony wouldn’t have sacrificed himself unless he knew Spider-Man would carry on.


Our dude, however, just wants to go on vacation. He’s shelving the Iron Spider suit, and heading to Europe with his classmates. And he plans on wooing MJ (Zendaya)… until it all starts to hit the fan.




The biggest reveal comes in the form of Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal). Not that he’s in the movie. We knew that much. But when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) introduces Peter Parker to his new ally, Quentin Beck, he clarifies that Beck is from Earth… just, not our Earth. Fury explains that Thanos’ snap ripped a hole in the universe, and now there’s access to Multiverses.


Multiverses are now alive and well in the MCU.


We can barely unpack all that this means for the MCU, so let’s just focus on Spider-Man for the time being. He’s trying to move on from the events of Avengers: Endgame. But he also feels a strong pull to be the next Iron Man. Why can’t he just be the first Spider-Man? That’s so much better, anyway.




There’s also an important reveal later in the trailer, as MJ basically tells Peter that she knows that he is Spider-Man. This is the second important person in Peter’s life to decipher this secret (after Marisa Tomei’s Aunt May), which means that for a superhero, Spidey is really shit at keeping secrets.


Then again, there is a lot of misdirect at play in these trailers. The Nick Fury line about it being “nice to meet you” has been changed – since, obviously, they met at Tony’s funeral. And as much as people want to see Mysterio as an ally, I still subscribe to the notion that it’s a bait-and-switch, and he’s really a bad guy who is responsible for the Elementals that are attacking the world’s top cities.


We’ll find out for sure when Spider-Man: Far From Home opens in theaters on July 2!



Hobbs & Shaw’s Dwayne Johnson Reveals What The Goal Was With Creating A Fast And Furious Spinoff

Hobbs & Shaw’s Dwayne Johnson Reveals What The Goal Was With Creating A Fast And Furious Spinoff
Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham in Hobbs & Shaw

Since 2001, there have been eight Fast and Furious movies which have collectively grossed over $5 billion at the box office, thus becoming Universal’s most flourishing franchise to date. So when the series decided to branch out with its first ever spinoff Hobbs and Shaw starring heavy-weight action stars Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham coming this summer, the upcoming bags of cash coming the movie’s way isn’t tough to predict.


On Wednesday, Hobbs and Shaw came out to CinemaCon in Las Vegas to boast some new badass footage and brought together the pair of stars sharing the spotlight in the Fast and Furious spinoff. Dwayne Johnson said this about why this spinoff was decided upon:



Our goal here with the [spinoff] was to build out the Fast and Furious franchise, we wanted to create something that was special. We wanted to create something that had our own tapestry, our own feel, our own energy. But the bottom line was we wanted to make something that is fun. And when I say fun, like Fast and Furious movies are fun and this is FUN. We reached the top level of fun with the Fast and Furious movies. I’m talking about fun, good amen. That’s what we wanted to do.





A little fun never hurt a summer blockbuster, and Hobbs and Shaw looks like it has a ton of it. The upcoming spinoff plays off the scene-stealing chemistry Johnson’s Luke Hobbs and Statham’s Deckard Shaw, showed off in the Fast and Furious films. The unlikely pair team up this time around to take down a genetically-engineered superpowered and flamethrower-wielding villain named Brixton, played by Idris Elba.


Hobbs and Shaw seems to let go of the reality that once grounded in the Fast and Furious franchise, as the franchise has gone for bigger visual spectacles and stunts for fans to be in awe of. Elba’s superpowers mark a big chang, and so is a marketed scene that has Hobbs scaling down a skyscraper as Shaw sleekly goes down an elevator at the same time. So, Johnson’s emphasis on “FUN” doesn’t sound far off … the franchise is going bonkers in the best way and fans are going to eat it up.


The upcoming blockbuster isn’t the last of planned Fast and Furious spinoffs either. There is a female-led spinoff also in the works including a couple of the writers of Captain Marvel onboard, out of three overall planned spinoffs promised to Universal. Fast and the Furious 9 & 10 are also in the works for 2020 and 2021.




With Fast and Furious spinoffs on the way in addition to the main franchise, will audiences get franchise fatigue? Hobbs and Shaw certainly seems to be shaking up the series with a fresh take and not taking itself too seriously. The movie hits theaters on August 2, 2019.

Sunday, February 9, 2020

When Marvel Will Finally Be Announcing Its Upcoming Movies

When Marvel Will Finally Be Announcing Its Upcoming Movies
Cap in Endgame

Moviegoers are still recovering from the events of Avengers: Endgame, which arrived in theaters two weeks ago. The Russo Brothers managed to do the impossible, and included everything and the kitchen sink in the high stakes movie. What resulted was an ambitious blockbuster that had deep cut references to tons of past Marvel installments.


But now that Endgame has hit theaters, there are still a ton of narrative questions that fans are asking. Marvel Studios hasn't revealed its plans for Phase Four, and smart money says we won't hear much until Spider-Man: Far From Home arrives in theaters in July. Now Disney CEO Bob Iger has given some indication of when the plans for the MCU's future will be revealed. Without giving a date, Iger said he's "guessing they will announce later this summer."


This is pretty exciting news, as it means that the public only has a few months left to wait and wonder what might be coming down the pipeline for the behemoth shared universe. And Bob Iger's comments from Disney's Q2 conference call (via Seeking Alpha) however vague, give some idea about when to expect concrete information regarding Phase Four.




The Marvel Cinematic Universe brought serialized storytelling to theaters, and it's a method that various other studios and franchises have attempted in the decade since Iron Man debuted. Part of Marvel's typical strategy is to reveal full Phases of films in advance, allowing moviegoers to known exactly when each blockbuster is expected to arrive in theaters, and usually their titles.


But Phase Four is a total mystery at the time of writing this story, as Marvel Studios hasn't revealed its plans in the post-Endgame world. Ahead of the release of The Russo Brothers' pair of Avengers movies, it was revealed that the MCU's next phase wouldn't be revealed in advance, as the titles had the potential to spoil the events of Infinity War and/or Endgame. But now that the movies arrived and the spoiler ban has been lifted, the fans are going to get antsy about still being kept in the dark.


Related: Marvel's 2020 Movie Schedule Will Be A Little Different Than What We're Used To




This summer makes sense as an appropriate time for Marvel to unveil its plans for Phase Four, as there is still one more blockbuster coming down the pipeline: Spider-Man: Far From Home. While it was originally teased to be the first entry in the new slate of movies, Jon Watts' upcoming sequel is actually the final installment in Phase Three. As such, we shouldn't expect the studio to reveal the next release schedule until after that project arrives.


The MCU is very methodical about when new information is released, with each new blockbuster given its change to take the spotlight. And considering how much of the world was changed throughout the events of Infinity War and Endgame, there's no telling what might come next.


Avengers: Endgame is in theaters now, and Spider-Man: Far From Home will follow suit on July 2nd. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.



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
Jeff Goldblum as ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park

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.

 

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