Casino Royale’s Eva Green Doesn’t Think Bond Should Be A Woman

Casino Royale’s Eva Green Doesn’t Think Bond Should Be A Woman

With Daniel Craig’s tenure as James Bond soon coming to an end with the 2020 release of Bond 25, Hollywood has been having an ongoing conversation about who should replace the actor as the next 007. As movies are seeing success enlisting female heroines for popular franchises, some have even challenged that the character should be taken on by a woman next. Don’t count former Bond Girl Eva Green in on this idea. Here’s what she said:

I’m for women, but I really think James Bond should remain a man. It doesn’t make sense for him to be a woman. Women can play different types of characters, be in action movies and be superheroes, but James Bond should always be a man and not be Jane Bond. There is history with the character that should continue. He should be played by a man.

Eva Green’s recent comments to Vanity Fair aren’t in bias to her husband's famous role; she has a powerful point here. James Bond is inherently a male character with a long history as such. To gender-swap the character isn’t necessarily a great move for inclusivity or female empowerment, because it ignores much of the roots of Ian Fleming’s literary character and has women potentially playing second fiddle to Bond’s legacy-- instead of finding their own place in the action genre.

Eva Green isn’t the first to challenge the idea of “Jane Bond”. Longtime James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli recently echoed the actress’ statement with the words “We don't have to turn male characters into women. Let's just create more female characters”, along with Rachel Weisz who questioned “Why not create your own story rather than jumping onto the shoulders and being compared to all those other male predecessors?”

Just as women may certainly be enraged to learn Wonder Woman, who is a character deeply rooted in the feminine was going to be played by a man next, people may look similarly on characters such as James Bond. Though I’d argue this certainly doesn’t apply to all gender-swap situations. The Ocean’s franchise isn’t particularly rooted in having to be “male”, so changing it up with a female-led team Ocean’s Eight was a fun way for the series to continue.

Eva Green moved on to discuss the iconic “Bond Girl”, a character that the actress is proud to be a part of evolving with her portrayal of Vesper in 2006’s Casino Royale. She is passionate about the females depicted alongside James Bond to continue developing away from the “bimbos” of the past and becoming “intelligent and sassy and fascinating” onscreen characters.

While Green will not star in Bond 25, the filmmakers are reportedly eyeing Lupita Nyong’o to be the next Bond Girl in the upcoming film helmed by Cary Fukunaga. Daniel Craig’s James Bond will return to theaters on April 8, 2020.

Aladdin Reviews Are In, Here's What The Critics Think

Aladdin Reviews Are In, Here's What The Critics Think

Disney has had repeated success remaking it's animated hits and the newest entry in the series is Aladdin. Like Beauty and the Beast before it, this version of Aladdin is a largely faithful adaptation right down to being a full musical like its animated counterpart. For the most part, audiences seem be getting behind the new version of the popular tale, but there are some notable exceptions.

Our own Eric Eisenberg is one of those exceptions. While Eric admitted the soundtrack to the new Aladdin is top notch, in the end, the movie fell victim to the sin of following its source material too closely, thus lacking any creativity of its own. Eric gave the film two and a half stars, saying...

The new Aladdin does have a fun energy and charm – not to mention one of the best soundtracks of any Disney musical ever – but all of these positives are simply borrowed, and there is a very real and notable limit to its creative energy.

The lukewarm to negative reviews are in the minority, the Rotten Tomatoes score for Aladdin is currently in the high 70s, but they are there. ScreenCrush gives the movie points for effort, saying that Will Smith works hard, perhaps too hard, to make his Genie work. In the end, however, the new Aladdin doesn't surpass the original in any way...

But there’s still nothing that this Aladdin does better — or as well — as the original. Even the parts pulled directly from the 1992 Aladdin by Ron Clements and John Musker, like the songs, have lost something in translation.

Aladdin is one of the movies that came out during what's called the Disney Renaissance. The studio's animation division, that had been nearly shuttered only a few years before, was riding high on a series of successes. Parents taking their kids to see the new Aladdin saw the original on the big screen as kids themselves. It seems some reviews don't think those adults are going to find the same magic here.

The decision to have Guy Ritchie, the man behind movies like Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, direct the live-action Aladdin always seemed like an odd choice. The Associated Press largely throws what doesn't work about Aladdin at his feet, saying...

It’s pretty clear after watching the new live-action Aladdin that doubts about Will Smith’s casting as the Genie are overblown. It’s the guy behind the camera who should be doubted. And stuffed into a small lamp forever.

If you've seen the 1992 animated movie then you know the story. Aladdin is a homeless beggar on the streets of fictional middle eastern Agrabah. He gets enlisted by the Sultan's villainous vizier Jafar to obtain a magic lamp, but ends up unleashing the Genie trapped inside himself. Aladdin then uses the Genie's magic to transform himself into a prince in order to try and impress the princess he's fallen in love with.

However, while some find the new movie weak, for the most part, critics are giving the new film, passing, if not stellar grades. Variety finds the melding of live-action and CGI to be a task uniquely suited to a stylish director like Guy Ritchie...

Where the director really shines is in melding practical elements with virtual ones. Whether making Smith’s computer-enhanced and cerulean-skinned Genie look natural sharing the screen with Aladdin or swooping the camera along magic carpet rides through virtual sets, Ritchie’s style embraces the kind of expressionism needed to pull off such a fanciful tale.

One of the hardest jobs that the new Aladdin had to accomplish was making the Genie work. Robin Williams' version of the character from 1992 wasn't just great, it was iconic. It became one of the great animation performances of all time. How in the blue hell does Will Smith try to take on a role like that, still make it feel like Disney's Genie, while somehow avoiding a comparison that is not going to go well?

Many reviews think that Will Smith did a good job, or at least a good enough, job, in that regard. THR says Smith infused the role with his own personality and made it work, even if the CGI maybe doesn't work all the time...

Smith, faced with the impossible task of living up to Robin Williams' iconic voice performance, easily makes the role his own. His infectious personality shines throughout, and he even manages to infuse his martini-swilling Genie with moving emotional moments.

The Genie does also get a bit more to do in this version of the film. He spends a large part of the story "disguised" as human in order to actually play a part in the story beyond simply being the source of magic when needed.

The top performances in the new Aladdin however, clearly belong to the two human lead characters. Mena Massoud who plays the title character and Naomi Scott's Jasmine are getting generally positive reviews for their performances. As the New York Post puts it..

Massoud and Scott make a live-action “Aladdin” succeed on a different level than a cartoon can — as a teary romance. “A Whole New World” is more moving than the original.

The one way that the new Aladdin does make significant changes to the original animated movie is in the way it handles Princess Jasmine. She has a lot more agency in the new film, and even gets her own song, an original tune written for the film called "Speechless." If we're being honest, many reviews don't think the song is all that good, however nobody is blaming Naomi Scott's performance for that.

In the final analysis, it seems quite clear that if what you want from the new live-action Aladdin is a slightly modified version of the movie you already, know and love, then you will likely enjoy the new movie. If, however, you are looking for a movie that tries to do something creative with the popular property, you'll find the film lacking.

Based on the success of the Beauty and the Beast remake from a couple of years ago, it seems like moviegoers are perfectly happy with just getting the same story over again and so the new Aladdin may be about to make a billion dollars.

The new Aladdin hits theaters Friday.

David Harbour Admits The Hellboy Reboot Had ‘Major Problems’

David Harbour Admits The Hellboy Reboot Had ‘Major Problems’

Dark Horse Comics character Hellboy finally returned to the big screen last month after over a decade away, only rather than being played by Ron Perlman again, Stranger Things’ David Harbour donned the red makeup and sawed-off horns for this reboot. While its predecessors were met with mostly positive critical reception, the new Hellboy movie earned a lot of negative reviews, and it also ended up being a box office bomb, making only $40 million worldwide off a $50 million budget.

It had been reported shortly before Hellboy’s release that there was behind-the-scenes drama during the production, and now David Harbour has admitted that the reboot had “major problems,” namely because it was dealing with the old ‘too many cooks in the kitchen’ problem. In Harbour’s words:

We did our best, but there's so many voices that go into these things and they're not always going to work out. I did what I could do and I feel proud of what I did, but ultimately I'm not in control of a lot of those things.

Making a movie is a complicated endeavor that requires a lot of people doing various tasks, but when it comes to planning out how said movie is supposed to unfold, having too many people piping in on what should happen can definitely cause issues. This wouldn’t be the first time a blockbuster, particularly a superhero movie, has dealt with such a problem, and going off David Harbour’s comment, this was the primary reason Hellboy failed to impress.

David Harbour didn’t provide specific details how how these “many voices” dragged Hellboy down, but in the previous report about the troubled production, it was said director Neil Marshall frequently clashed with producers Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin, which “boiled over” when the producers replaced Marshall’s cinematographer. No official reasoning was provided on this firing, but it was apparently a “group decision” and not, as Marshall supposedly believed, a message that he wasn’t truly in charge.

Other issues that reportedly popped up during Hellboy included Lloyd Levin repeatedly interrupting Neil Marshall to give different directions, David Harbour walking off set numerous times after refusing to deliver extra takes Marshall wanted, multiple script re-writes and, perhaps most weirdly of all, disagreements over the design of a “surreal tree.” So yeah, even though Harbour didn’t comment on the full scope of Hellboy’s problems, clearly this wasn’t a smooth creative process.

That said, David Harbour also told Digital Spy and other outlets at MCM Comic-Con in London that he also thinks the movie was unfairly compared to the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. As he sees it, due to what Marvel has been delivering, moviegoers have been expecting a certain “flavor” with their superhero movies, like chocolate. Harbour continued:

So everybody goes chocolate is delicious and these guys make the best chocolate. So as you judge the movies, it's like, 'Well it's not as chocolatey as this, this does not taste like chocolate at all'. And I sort of want a world where there's more flavors than just comparisons to chocolate. So in that way when Hellboy is viewed on the chocolate spectrum, it does very poorly. That being said, it also has major problems.

David Harbour then said that if one were to watch Hellboy as a rental or while on an airplane, they’d think “Oh that was fun” because it is a fun movie, but ultimately, the reboot was “unfairly bludgeoned” because it was compared to Marvel’s offerings. Whether you agree with that sentiment or not, one thing is certain: Hellboy will not go down in film history as a well-received superhero movie. It ranks at just 16% on Rotten Tomatoes and earned a C grade on CinemaScore.

With critical reception like that, it’s extremely unlikely that Hellboy will get a sequel. Maybe it’s time to finally adapt the Mike Mignola-created property as a TV series? Regardless, this doesn’t mark the end of David Harbour’s comic book movie journey, as he’s lined up to appear in Black Widow. So even though Harbour felt that Hellboy shouldn’t have been judged the same way a MCU movie would be, he’ll soon get to leave his mark on that very franchise.

Let us know what you thought of Hellboy in the comments below, and for the David Harbour fans reading, you can see him reprising Chief Jim Hopper when Stranger Things Season 3 premiers on Netflix July 4. As for what is hitting theaters later this year, check out our 2019 release schedule.

Hobbs And Shaw Just Re-Wrapped After Filming Some Major New Scenes

Hobbs And Shaw Just Re-Wrapped After Filming Some Major New Scenes

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson posts so many "wrap" photos he could stack them under a Christmas tree. (I'll see myself out.) He just wrapped Jumanji 3 and now he has announced another wrap for Hobbs & Shaw.

That Fast and Furious franchise spinoff is coming out August 2, not even three months from now, so it would be strange to see it just wrap filming this week. Dwayne Johnson previously shared an emotional wrap video in mid-February, when initial filming was complete. But it's common to head back to set for reshoots and "additional photography," and it looks like Hobbs & Shaw did just that for a few key scenes -- including a massive showdown with Idris Elba's criminal mastermind Brixton Lore.

Here's The Rock's first of three posts on re-wrapping Hobbs & Shaw, with this one teasing the fight ahead as the "Biggest showdown the FAST & FURIOUS franchise has ever seen":

After that, The Rock -- aka Pig Daddy? -- showed off his ride before filming one last scene for the movie.

Finally, he shared an official this-is-it production wrap post, sharing this photo to tease "a fun final touch for our movie":

Nice! Hobbs & Shaw takes place two years after The Fate of the Furious. Dwayne Johnson's "ice cold can of whup-ass" Luke Hobbs has to team up with "champagne problem" Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw to take down Idris Elba's former MI6 agent Brixton, who is now a "super-human" terrorist (aka "Black Superman"). Vanessa Kirby co-stars as MI6 field agent Hattie Shaw, who happens to be Deckard's sister, with Helen Mirren as Magdalene Shaw.

The official title of this thing is Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, but that still sounds like a variety show to me. Hobbs & Shaw opens its can of whup-ass in theaters on August 2, as one of the many movies worth keeping track of in 2019.

Avengers: Endgame’s Directors Admit To Adding Extra Footage To Trailers

Avengers: Endgame’s Directors Admit To Adding Extra Footage To Trailers

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the biggest franchises in film history, with a shopping 21 movies dropped in the decade and change since Iron Man arrived on the scene. Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame are the cumulation of those blockbusters, as The Russo Brothers balanced the large ensemble cast for a set of movies with equal parts action and heart.

Aside from the scheduling and storytelling challenges that come with handling such a behemoth pair of movies, The Russo Brothers had to deal with another challenge: how do you market the films without giving away too much? Endgame has only released very brief clips, and once Infinity War hit theaters, there were some shots from the trailer that were noticeably missing from the final cut. Now the brothers have admitted to padding trailers with extra footage, with Joe Russo saying:

We talked about all scales of marketing. The thing that’s most important to us is that we preserve the surprise of the narrative. When I was a kid and saw The Empire Strikes Back at 11am on the day it opened…It so profoundly moved me because I didn’t know a damn thing about the story I was going to watch. We’re trying to replicate that experience.

Tricky move, Russos! In an attempt to keep the secrets of the third and fourth Avengers movies, their marketing material included some footage to throw the fandom off. As such, audiences can have the full experience in theaters, and the blockbusters can have the maximum emotional impact.

Joe Russo's comments to Empire Magazine confirm a long standing fan theory about Infinity War and Endgame. Specifically, the the trailers include footage that serve as red herrings to the film's true contents. Just look at Infinity War's massive trailer. One of the most iconic shots from the marketing shows the Avengers running toward their enemy in the Battle of Wakanda, including The Hulk. But the big green guy was almost completely absent from the final cut, as he refused to resurface after getting beaten by Thanos in the opening scene.

Eventually Bruce Banner donned the Hulkbuster armor to fight against Thanos' forces, and it was obvious that the Infinity War trailer was selling a false bill of goods. This allowed for the subplot surrounding Bruce Banner and The Hulk's dysfunctional relationship was one of the many surprises that the blockbuster brought to theaters.

It should be interesting to see how the Avengers: Endgame trailers ultimately relate to the film's final product. The marketing material for the blockbuster has been pretty sparse, as Marvel Studios was focusing on the release of Captain Marvel. The public still doesn't have an inkling regarding what the film's main plot will entail, as things have been kept purposefully vague in the trailers. Instead, the footage sets up the tone of the movie, and just how bleak things are in the wake of Thanos' finger snap of death.

All will be revealed when Avengers: Endgame arrives in theaters on April 26th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

John Wick: Chapter 4 Is Already Happening

John Wick: Chapter 4 Is Already Happening

Not only is John Wick skilled at killing people, his movies have also become increasingly better at killing it at the box office. The latest release, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, has pulled in over $93 million worldwide so far, and it kicked off Avengers: Endgame as the highest grossing domestic release this past weekend. Well, Lionsgate didn’t waste anytime giving the green light to John Wick: Chapter 4; we can expect it two years from now.

One of the ways John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum has been marketing itself is through texts from The Continental making those who subscribe to those texts feel like their an assassin being updated by the hotel. Well, today the message was sent out that John Wick: Chapter 4 is slated for release on May 21, 2021.

With all the money John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum has pulled in so far, as well as the positive critical reception it has received, it’s hardly shocking that Lionsgate wants to keep the story going. While Keanu Reeves is arguably still best known for the Bill & Ted and Matrix movies, the John Wick franchise is his latest big claim to fame, and the actor has said he’s game to keep playing the character as long as people are still interested in these tales. Now we can look forward to at least one more chapter in this intense, violent saga.

Warning: SPOILERS for John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum are ahead!

Needless to say that John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum put John through all kinds of hell, just like its predecessors, from being hunted down by fellow assassins looking to collect the $14 million on his head to fighting off High Table operatives that invaded Winston’s branch of The Continental. He even cut off his own finger just to show commitment to The Elder, one of the High Table members, although that loyalty didn’t last long. Ultimately, the threequel ended with John in his worst state yet: being shot several times by Winston and falling off the roof of The Continental.

Fortunately for John, he was retrieved by the Tick Tock Man and deposited before The Bowery King, who had been severely injured earlier in Parabellum as punishment for helping John in Chapter 2. Forced underground, Bowery King informed John that he’s “pissed off” about what The High Table did to him and asked if John felt the same way, to which John simply responded, “Yeah.”

There weren’t any plot details accompanying the John Wick: Chapter 4 release date announcement, but we can reasonably assume that the next installment will see John, Bowery King and whatever allies they can scrounge up waging war against The High Table. Whether that conflict will be wrapped up at the end of Chapter 4 or if it will extend into a potential Chapter 5 remains to be seen, but at least fans of this franchise can take comfort knowing this has evolved from a trilogy to a longer film series.

As mentioned earlier, you can look forward to John Wick: Chapter 4 hitting theaters in late May 2021, and stay tuned to CinemaBlend for continuing coverage on its development. In the meantime, you can learn what’s coming to the silver screen this year in our 2019 release schedule.

Jaimie Alexander Reveals Lady Sif's Marvel Undergarments

Jaimie Alexander Reveals Lady Sif's Marvel Undergarments

Jaimie Alexander’s Lady Sif hasn’t been seen on the big screen in the MCU since Thor: The Dark World and as far as we know, she isn’t in this weekend’s Avengers: Endgame. Many fans would probably like to see more of Sif in the MCU. But while we wait for that to happen, Jaimie Alexander is happy to show us, well, more of Lady Sif. Specifically, the actress has revealed the Marvel heroine’s undergarments. Take a look:

Jaimie Alexander clearly had some fun with this tweet, pairing a devil emoji with what could be called a rhetorical question. Yes, I’m pretty sure at least a few people have wondered what is under Lady Sif’s armor. Here we get to see that what is beneath that armor is a tight-fitting all black outfit that looks more like it belongs to Black Widow in Iron Man 2 than an Asgardian warrior.

It definitely makes sense that you’d want something tight, lightweight and easy to move in before loading up with all that armor. Regardless, you remove Lady Sif’s armor, bracelets and greaves and Jaimie Alexander’s character still looks every bit as beautifully badass as she does in her full battle attire. Greaves or not, you definitely don’t want to get kicked with the boots this Goddess of War is wearing.

Sadly, it’s been a while since we’ve seen Jaimie Alexander kicking ass in the MCU in any outfit. After Thor: The Dark World, the actress reprised her role as the character in two episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but hasn’t been seen since. While it initially seemed like she might get a bigger role in Thor: Ragnarok, the actress couldn’t join the film because of scheduling conflicts with her NBC show Blindspot.

After Avengers: Infinity War it was revealed that Lady Sif, like so many others was snapped out of existence by Thanos. But with the Decimation expected to be reversed in Avengers: Endgame, could she finally make her return?

Blindspot is currently in its fourth season but it has not yet been renewed for a fifth season, nor has it been cancelled. If it is cancelled, that would presumably free Jaimie Alexander up to rejoin the MCU, if there was a place for her character of course. To that end, a few months back, we heard a rumor that Lady Sif could get her own limited series on Disney+.

Disney’s upcoming streaming service is handing out series to plenty of MCU characters and the messaging has been that these series will have real integration with the film universe and influence one another in a big way (unlike Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.).

Given that she is Asgardian, Lady Sif would definitely be one of the more interesting characters a series could follow. She arguably hasn’t gotten her due or been fleshed out enough in the movies yet and a series could remedy that. Even if she doesn’t get her own series perhaps there would be an opportunity for Jaimie Alexander to play the character in Loki’s Disney+ series.

You can see Lady Sif’s fellow Asgardian Thor in Avengers: Endgame, in theaters this weekend. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see what’s headed your way this summer and for all your movie news stay tuned to CinemaBlend.