Samuel L. Jackson Confirms Sequel The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard Is Finally In Production

Samuel L. Jackson Confirms Sequel The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard Is Finally In Production

We’re only two films in to Samuel L. Jackson’s especially stacked 2019 and the prolific actor is already hard at work making sure he’ll be lighting up the silver screen for years to come. In 2020, the actor will star in The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, the sequel to the 2017 action-comedy The Hitman’s Bodyguard, which starred Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds. Now, the busy actor has confirmed The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is finally in production. Take a look:

This image confirms The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is now in production and shooting in Croatia, the European country where Game of Thrones spent so much time and that also served as Canto Bight in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. It may technically be work, but as you can see from Samuel L. Jackson’s Instagram photos, the picturesque country on the Adriatic Sea is lovely and definitely not a bad place to be filming a fun action movie.

Croatia won’t be the only place The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard shoots though. The sequel will also be filming in London and Italy, giving the action sequel even more international, European flavor after the first film shot in London, The Netherlands and Bulgaria. Ryan Reynolds’ Michael Bryce and Samuel L. Jackson’s Darius Kincaid won’t just be sightseeing or going on a vacation in Europe, they’ll actually be trying to save it.

The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard will find Michael Bryce attempting to live a peaceful life after the events in the last film where notorious hitman Darius Kincaid and his wife, Salma Hayek’s Sonia, drag him in to their mission to cause chaos on Italy’s Amalfi Coast that is somehow meant to help save Europe. Needless to say, Ryan Reynolds’ character will once again find himself with a difficult job and even more difficult clients.

The first Hitman’s Bodyguard earned $176.6 million worldwide back in 2017, sitting atop the domestic box office for three straight weeks from August to early September. On a modest $30 million budget, that made it a big enough of a hit to warrant a sequel, a sequel that looks to be upping the ante by putting together an impressive cast.

In addition to the delightful returning cast of Samuel L. Jackson, Ryan Reynolds, Salma Hayek and Richard E. Grant, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard will also star Antonio Banderas, Frank Grillo and, in his first ever film with Samuel L. Jackson, Morgan Freeman. The sequel also recently added Tom Hopper, who you may know from Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, Starz’ Black Sails or as the riotously named Dickon Tarly in Game of Thrones.

The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is expected to arrive in theaters in 2020. There’s plenty to see before then though and you can check it all out in our 2019 release schedule. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the latest movie news.

Sony Won The Rights To Britney Spears Movie Musical Once Upon A One More Time

Sony Won The Rights To Britney Spears Movie Musical Once Upon A One More Time

With the recent success of musicals such as The Greatest Showman and Mary Poppins Returns… oops, let’s do it again! Sony Pictures is getting on the movie musical bandwagon with a fairytale set to the tune of Britney Spears’ biggest hits called Once Upon A One More Time, which will soon debut on a Chicago stage this fall before making its way to Broadway in 2020.

Sony has won an auction for the rights to adapt the musical for the big screen, and according to Deadline, it will be produced by Britney Spears, her manager Larry Rudolph and John Davis, who has done projects including The Predator and the upcoming Jungle Cruise. The musical follows iconic princesses such as Cinderella and Snow White, who often gather for their book club to read Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Then, a rogue fairy godmother introduces them to The Feminine Mystique and break out into Britney songs such as “Toxic” and “Circus” amidst their introduction to second-wave feminism.

Once Upon A One More Time is based on a book by Jon Hartmere, it will be directed by Kristen Hanggi, who is best known for developing and directing the musical Rock of Ages, and choreography is being handled by Keone and Mari Madrid, leads of Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself” music video. Britney Spears recently celebrated 20 years since her debut album, ...Baby One More Time, which is still her highest-selling album to date.

The pop star is famous for her early ‘00s music videos complete with iconic dances and costumes from Britney Spears. The princess of pop has created radio hit after radio hit and has a huge fan base, so Once Upon A One More Time is sure to peak the interest of them everywhere. It also seems to be trend for musicals including famous singers to be getting big screen debuts recently.

Bohemian Rhapsody recently not only rocked the box office with over $900 million in earnings worldwide, it also won some Oscars as well. The upcoming Rocketman will reenact and take some creative liberties with Elton John’s life and legacy.

The highly-successful Mamma Mia movies seem to be the closest to Once Upon A One More Time, as they both explore the libraries of one famous artist to tell a completely different story in a musical. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again was quietly successful last summer with $394 million in worldwide earnings. Princesses are also quite popular, especially for Disney – audiences will either be excited to see them spoofed through Britney’s music or scoff at yet another recycled use of their well-known stories.

Once Upon A One More Time is an exciting, new kind of musical that looks to celebrate Britney Spears’ music in a unique and fun way, along with having an empowering message about The Feminine Mystique and retelling the classic stories of princesses from what we are used to seeing from them. Sign me up for Snow White belting out “Toxic” - that’ll be worth the price of admission on its own!

Avengers: Endgame Red Carpet Censors Gwyneth Paltrow After Slipping Up With A Spoiler

Avengers: Endgame Red Carpet Censors Gwyneth Paltrow After Slipping Up With A Spoiler

If you’re a part of a superhero movie, then you always need to be careful about not revealing spoilers ahead of release. The cast of Avengers: Endgame, though, have had to work extra hard not to accidentally reveal anything to the public, and despite trying hard not to do so, Gwyneth Paltrow, a.k.a. the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Pepper Potts, accidentally let something slip, requiring the Marvel censors to get involved.

Gwyneth Paltrow was one of the many celebrities to attend the Avengers: Endgame world premiere yesterday, and while on the red carpet, she was asked about her final day of shooting, i.e. when she knew the endgame was indeed the endgame. She responded:

I have an indelible moment from filming. I don't know if it was the actual last day, but we were all together and shooting at this beautiful, on this beautiful lake in Atlanta, and it was amazing to be with everybody. The casts of multiple movies all at the same time...

The actress then looked to Iron Man director and Happy Hogan performer Jon Favreau and asked him if she could say that, prompting him to answer, “I don’t know,” which then led to her saying “Oh shit!” This moment can still be seen on the video presenting the full Avengers: Endgame red carpet event, but if you watch the video highlighting just Gwyneth Paltrow, the part where she mentions the casts of multiple movies has been cut out.

It’s obviously common knowledge that Avengers: Endgame has a stacked cast, from the original six of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to the likes of Captain Marvel and Ant-Man. However, Gwyneth Paltrow’s comment reveals that there will be a moment in Endgame that has the largest collection of MCU characters together ever, something that not even Avengers: Infinity War delivered last year.

How will this be accomplished? It likely involves all the characters who were dusted at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. All of those actors have played coy about whether or not their characters will actually be brought back to life, but it’s basically a given that most, if not all of the dusted heroes will be brought back, namely because folks like Spider-Man and Black Panther have sequels on the way. Once you throw them into the equation, such a huge gathering is possible, though that doesn’t make it any less cool to see on the big screen.

In the grand scheme of things, Gwyneth Paltrow’s comment is a minor slip-up at best, but Marvel doesn’t take any chances. The studio has been very keen on revealing as little as possible about Avengers: Endgame, to the point that Scarlett Johansson said that the press tour was making her lose sleep out of fear she said something she wasn’t supposed to.

It’s also worth noting that this isn’t the first time time Gwyneth Paltrow has dropped a potential Avengers: Endgame spoiler. Last year, shortly after Avengers: Infinity War came out, she noted that Tony Stark and Pepper Potts' relationship evolves to the point that they’re married and have a child. We already knew that the couple had nuptials on the calendar, but evidently these two will also be parents when we reunite with them.

All we know about Avengers: Endgame for certain is it will see the surviving Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and other heroes banding together to try and undo the genocide Thanos unleashed with the snap of his fingers. Their initial plan to accomplish this is to steal the Infinity Stones from the Mad Titan and harness their power for themselves, but we have no idea if the protagonists will be successful doing this, let alone what else is in store for the movie.

Avengers: Endgame finally bows in theaters on the evening of Thursday, April 25, but rest assured that we here at CinemaBlend will have plenty more coverage of the movie in the weeks to follow. For now, you can learn what the MCU’s future looks like by looking through our handy guide.

First IT Chapter Two Trailer Debuts The Adult Losers' Club

First IT Chapter Two Trailer Debuts The Adult Losers' Club

It's no secret that the horror genre has been in a renaissance during the last few years. Rather than stale franchises or torture porn, filmmakers have been bringing unique and terrifying new additions to theaters, and making a ton of money in the process. Andy Muschietti's IT was certainly no exception, as the iconic miniseries was adapted for the silver screen.

Given the first film's success, IT Chapter Two was an inevitability, and Andy Muschietti assembled a fantastic adult cast to continue the story in the sequel. Details about IT's follow-up has been kept under wraps, but now the first trailer has arrived. Check it out-- you'll float too.

Does anyone else have chills? Pennywise the dancing clown is back, and he might be even more menacing than the last time we saw him. This first trailer is largely focused on one terrifying sequence starring an adult Bev (Jessica Chastain), but we're also shown glimpses of the rest of the adult Losers' club, as well as the terrifying villain himself.

In the trailer, Beverly Marsh comes back to her childhood home, and the site her trauma as a girl in order to fulfill her oath with the rest of the Losers' Club. She's let in by a sweet old lady, and the two discuss the town of Derry, and Bev's return. But things start to take a turn quickly, the moment the little old lady mentions that her father used to be in the circus.

The scene plays out with tons of tension, and the audience is privy to more information that Jessica Chastain's character is. We watch in horror as she's talked by Pennywise's latest disguise, before eventually being attacked. Let's just hope that Bev gets out there alive.

Jessica Chastain is joined by a stunning cast of adult actors, who are shown in brief clips throughout the first IT Chapter Two trailer. James McAvoy is playing Losers' Club leader Bill Denbrough, who is shown sharing some tender moments with his childhood crush, Bev. Bill Hader is playing Richie Tozier, taking on the mantle from Stranger Things standout Finn Wolfhard. Also featured are Mike (Isaiah Mustafa ), Eddie (James Ransone), and Stan (Andy Bean).

Related: Bill Skarsgard Promises A More Vicious Pennywise In IT Chapter Two

Personally, I think this first IT Chapter Two trailer is super effective. By largely focusing on one sequence, the trailer fails to accidentally spoil the film's contents. And while the sequel's tone is made crystal clear, just about anything could happen when it arrives in theaters.

IT Chapter Two will arrive in theaters on September 6, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

New Dark Phoenix Video Pays Tribute To The Entire X-Men Franchise

New Dark Phoenix Video Pays Tribute To The Entire X-Men Franchise

This feels a little bit like “Goodbye.” The X-Men movies are getting a tribute video ahead of the release of Simon Kinberg’s Dark Phoenix, and because of what we know of the behind-the-scenes creativity shifts, this feels like a sendoff to the series forged at Fox – as it might take up new residency in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

But as this Legacy video points out, the X-Men Saga had a significant impact on the comic-book-movie landscape, and it has one more shot at success with a retelling of the Phoenix storyline:

This is a touching video because it shows how long the X-Men stories have been entertaining audiences, and leans into the brilliant casting that has been a hallmark of the franchise from day one. Getting the likes of Hugh Jackman, Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Halle Berry and more to discuss their roles in the X-Men films, and the impact of the series, reminds us of how far this “family” has come.

It also shows how complicated it might be for Marvel Studios to essentially start over on the X-Men properties, because the Legacy that’s established in this video can’t just be erased and rebooted.

Do we want to see MCU versions of classic characters like Cyclops, Jean and Wolverine on screen some day? Sure, when we see what Marvel has done with the likes of Spider-Man, Black Panther and the Guardians of the Galaxy. But will it be easy to just overlook the work done by Jackman, Stewart, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan and more? Not exactly.

This tribute video also gets us even more excited for the work that’s still to come in Dark Phoenix. If Fox allowed Kinberg to treat the movie like a sendoff, then we might get real closure for major characters who have earned a closing chapter in this mutant-movie book.

We are seeing significant sendoffs in the MCU (in Avengers: Endgame) and on HBO (with Game of Thrones). After all of these years, shouldn’t the X-Men be able to say goodbye to their fans the way that they see fit?

Dark Phoenix looks like it’s going to go out on a blast. Sophie Turner will be bringing the classic Jean Grey comic-book storyline to life, being blessed and cursed with the power of the Phoenix when a routine space rescue mission goes south. The events are captured in the most recent trailer. Check it out here:

It’s very possible that key members of the X-Men saga continue with Disney and Marvel when the MCU starts making X-Men movies. No concrete plans have bene announced. But for now, we still have Dark Phoenix to look forward to, and this tribute video was a satisfying appetizer for the mutant meal that’s still to come.

Dark Phoenix opens everywhere on June 7. IMAX today announced that it will host early showtimes in its theaters on June 6, starting at 6 pm, so click here to grab tickets.

Toy Story 4 Is Going To Have More Easter Eggs Than You Can Count

Toy Story 4 Is Going To Have More Easter Eggs Than You Can Count

If you're a serious Pixar fan, then you probably enjoy hunting for classic Pixar easter eggs. From the Pizza Planet truck to the Luxo Ball, there are always little hidden nods to the history and future of Pixar in every feature film the company produces, but Toy Story 4 is going to put them all to shame, as the movie may very well have more easter eggs hidden inside it than it is possible to count.

Last month i had a chance to visit Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California. While there i had a chance to take a pretty deep dive into the production of Toy Story 4 including the new locations the story will visit. One of those locations, as viewed in the trailer, is an antiques mall where Woody sees that Bo Peep has ended up, and where we meet the film's villain, the doll Gabby Gabby.

I spoke with Pixar Sets Supervisor Thomas Jordan and Sets Technical Director Rosie Cole about the work they did creating the mall, and they reveled how much work they did creating all the references. According to Jordan...

In the antique mall in particular there's so many objects that are just beyond the view of the characters and there's lots of fun things, especially easter eggs and homages to other Pixar films and jokes that you would get if you watched all of our movies.

The antiques mall is just full of objects. It's packed to the ceiling with stuff. However, it's not just any stuff. As the animation team responsible for creating the environment revealed, a lot of the objects that have placed around the characters are actually easter eggs referencing all sorts of other Pixar films.

Among the easter eggs to look out for in the Toy Story 4 antique store:

Elastigirl's Elasticycle from Incredibles 2 can be seen as a toy

A scream canister from Monsters Inc is partially visible

A pinball machine that uses the Maori statues from the aquarium from Finding Nemo

A record of "Remember Me" from Coco playing on a gramophone

Not every easter egg in Toy Story 4 can be found in the antique store however. The other major location seen in the Toy Story 4 trailer is a carnival, and and Thomas Jordan let me know about one very fitting Pixar easter egg that will be visible there.

The balloon cart from Up, because Carl was a balloon salesman. His balloon cart, complete with the balloons are in the carnival.

Several Pixar easter eggs are seen in all, or nearly all, of the studio's films. The Luxo Ball, the yellow ball with the red star on it, that was screen in Pixar's first short Luxo Jr. Can be seen as a sticker on the toy rockers in the image above from the trailer. The Pizza Planet truck, which made its debut in the original Toy Story will appear in Toy Story 4 as well, though Thomas Jordan told me in won't appear in a way that viewers might expect.

The Pizza Planet truck is in the movie, but it’s seen in a very unusual way. I think the audience will see it, and I think they will be surprised.

Another Pixar tradition is placing an easter egg for Pixar's next film in the current one. That means that we'll see a reference to Pixar's Onward at some point. I asked for a hint as to where we'll be able to see it. The only thing I was told was where it won't be found.

We can tell you it is not in the antiques mall.

Of course, since very little of Onward has been shown to the public, there's a decent chance we won't even know what the easter egg was until after we see the movie in 2020.

I asked the team how many easter eggs that they'd created might not even be visible in Toy Story 4 because they'd been covered by other objects, potentially other easter eggs, and they admitted that might very well be the case. It seems that to see every reference that the new film has to offer, it will either require multiple viewings in the theater, or more likely, a frame by frame analysis once Toy Story 4 comes out on Blu-ray.

Toy Story 4 arrives in theaters June 21.

The Gambit Movie Has Been Shelved

The Gambit Movie Has Been Shelved

Earlier today, Disney announced a lot of new release date information, which included three new Star Wars movies being slotted and both the Avatar sequels and The New Mutants being delayed. But there was one movie conspicuously absent from the updated Disney calendar: Gambit. Yes, it appears that after years in development hell, Gambit has finally been shelved.

Ever since Gambit was officially announced back in 2014, five years after Taylor Kitsch played the first live action incarnation of Remy LeBeau in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it’s been repeatedly been delayed, and when last we heard, it was supposed to come out on March 13, 2020. However, now Disney has acquired 21st Century Fox, and rather than continue that studio’s pattern of pushing Gambit back, the Mouse House has opted to just take the movie off the board entirely.

Barring some surprise announcement later down the line, the five-year saga of attempting to give Gambit his own solo movie has ended. That’s a shame for Channing Tatum, who’s been attached to play Tatum since Gambit officially entered development. Maybe he’ll find another opportunity to play a superhero down the line, but throwing energized playing cards is not in his future.

Even if Disney had been willing to still release Gambit, there’s no way it would have been ready to go by that March 2020 date. Following the departures of Rupert Wyatt, Doug Liman and Gore Verbinski over the years, Gambit had still not found a replacement director. The movie also changed a lot from how it was originally conceived, but alas, we won’t get to see this particular tale unfold.

Gambit’s removal, as well as the cancellation of all the other X-Men spinoffs in development, further signals the end of the X-Men franchise that began in 2000. Dark Phoenix is wrapping up the main X-Men film series next month, and while Disney is insistent that we’ll see The New Mutants next year, it’ll likely just be a standalone tale rather than spawn sequels.

The only thing that will be staying the same when it comes to Marvel’s mutant properties is Deadpool, as Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recently said that there are no plans to change the Merc with the Mouth. But other than that, it’s believed that the X-Men franchise will be rebooted to fit within the Marvel Cinematic Universe continuity, although it will be a while until that happens.

Maybe there’s a future for Gambit within the MCU’s forthcoming X-Men adaptations; just because he was never able to star in his own movie doesn’t mean he can’t be an important player in ensemble pieces. Regardless, fingers crossed that someday there’s a book written about all the effort that went into trying to get the Gambit movie off the ground.

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the latest and greatest updates concerning Marvel movies. You can learn what’s coming to the MCU in our comprehensive guide, or you can plan your trips to the theater later this year with our 2019 release schedule.