Endgame’s Avengers 1 Callback Originally Looked Much Different

Endgame’s Avengers 1 Callback Originally Looked Much Different

The old adage in war is that no battle plan survives contact with the enemy. You can plan everything out before hand but when the action actually happens, things inevitably change. The same is largely true of making movies. You can have a script and you can work out how every scene is going to look in advance, but once you're actually trying to put the movie together, things will always change. Avengers: Endgame was no different.

The editors behind Avengers: Endgame have revealed that, among the changes that the movie saw in the editing bay, was the way that the heroes entered the battle of New York from the original Avengers film. In the version we saw on screen, we saw the iconic group shot of the Avengers from that film (the image above) which was our establishing shot to tell the audience where in the battle we're coming in. It seems that initially the time travelers joined the story a little bit later in the battle. According to editor Jeffrey Ford...

The script had us showing up right when Tony flies through the Leviathan and blows it up from the inside. But when we screened it for audiences in test screenings we realized it took a few minutes for them to acclimate themselves. It wasn't landing the way we wanted. So we tried other versions.

In the scene, Iron Man is fighting one of the massive Chitari creatures and he asks Jarvis if his AI companion is familiar with the story of Jonah and the Whale. Rather than trying to blast away at the creature's armor, which has proven largely ineffective, Tony Stark flies into the creature's open mouth and blasts his way out the back, which proves to be remarkably effective.

The moment is cool, but it's not necessarily the first thing fans remember when thinking about that battle, and as such, Jeffrey Ford tells Business Insider that test audiences took some time to get up to speed with what they were seeing.

Apparently, another entry point that was tried was the Hulk's complete dismantling of Loki by repeatedly smashing him into the ground. That likely would have worked quite well, but in the end, it was decided that another iconic moment worked better...

The version that won was where we come in on the Avengers first assembling, the round-a-round shot. It was the cleanest and most epic transition back into Avengers 1.

In the end, it really is hard to imagine, Avengers: Endgame doing anything else. That shot of the six team members together is quite possibly the single most iconic moment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even now.

Once you see that, even if you haven't seen the first Avengers film in years, you know exactly where you are in time, which then lets the time traveling versions of those heroes get to work without the narrative having to explain anything. Even with a three hour runtime, there's really no time for that.

Shazam! Box Office: DC's Latest Is Off To An Impressive Start

Shazam! Box Office: DC's Latest Is Off To An Impressive Start

Things weren't looking so good for the DC Extended Universe after the release of Zack Snyder's Justice League. Not only did it receive a rather serious thrashing from critics, but it also failed to meet box office expectations. Fortunately, however, the franchise has been on a much better path ever since. Released last December, James Wan's Aquaman has become the most successful DC Comics adaptation ever made, and now David F. Sandberg's Shazam! is off to a fantastic start as well. Check out its numbers, as well as the rest of the Top 10, below, and join me after for analysis!

The numbers aren't exactly record-shattering, but after its third day in wide release Shazam! is definitely in a good place, and Warner Bros. must surely be happy about the performance. Early estimates suggested that the film wouldn't only make $40-$50 million during its opening weekend, and it was able to not only clear that bar, but add a few extra million on top of it. Add in the fact that it's one of the less expensive modern day superhero blockbusters - made for a reported $100 million - and you have the makings of a legitimate winner in the DC Comics realm.

What surely helped in a major way with this one is just the buzz that the film has received. The studio clearly knew they had a winner with this one, and thanks to a whole lot of early screenings Shazam! has been riding high on positive word of mouth for quite a while now. It's received the second highest Rotten Tomatoes score of any DC Extended Universe title, with its 91% only just a little below the 93% earned by Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman back in 2017. On top of that, audiences are also showing some very real appreciation for it, as CinemaScore is reporting an "A" grade for the release - which makes a whole lot of sense when you consider what a crowd-pleaser the feature is.

Adding to the good news is that Shazam! is also off to a wonderful start in foreign territories as well. The movie is now out in most places, and ticket sales from abroad have already significantly bolstered the worldwide box office totals. To date it has made $102 million abroad, which brings its global total to $158.8 million. When you factor in publicity and advertising costs, it still probably has to make a bit more money before it gets to be called profitable, but this is a great place for the film to be after just three days. It's technically the slowest start for a DC Extended Universe title, but the previous film with that distinction was Aquaman, and we know how things turned out with that.

Perhaps part of the reason why Shazam! didn't open bigger is because it had some real competition at the box office, as Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer's Pet Sematary also put up some legitimate numbers this past weekend. Critics (61% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences ("C+" on CinemaScore) didn't respond to it quite as well as the big new superhero release, but the $25 million it brought it is nothing to shake a stick at. Not only did the horror film only cost $21 million to make, but it actually had the second best opening ever for a Stephen King adaptation - which is a pretty big deal when you consider how popular King is, and how many movies have been made based on his books. Obviously it came nowhere close to Andres Muschietti's IT, which pulled in a shocking $123.4 million during its first three days back in September 2017, but it made enough to take the second place spot away from Mikael Hafstrom's 1408, which made $20.6 million back in 2007. It's also doing pretty well in foreign territories, having made $17.3 million outside of North America so far.

Robin Bissell's The Best Of Enemies was the only other big title to hit theaters this weekend, though it had a relatively small wide release with only 1,705 theaters showing it. Still, with the star power of Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell, and a powerful true story to tell, the movie managed to take sixth place over all, and make $4.5 million in its initial release. That's not too shabby when you consider the $10 million budget. It won't ultimately be as big as The Upside, which made $107.6 million for STX Entertainment earlier this year, but it may still wind up making some money for the studio.

Beyond the new releases, unfortunately, there wasn't a ton of good news for Hollywood this time around. After winning the box office last week with a disappointing $45 million take, Tim Burton's Dumbo fell by 60.4 percent in its second Friday-to-Saturday stretch. As of now it $213.7 million globally, which seems like a lot, but that number doesn't look so great when you consider that it was made with a $170 million budget. It's going to be seriously tough for the film to be ultimately considered profitable - but the good news for Disney is that they still have Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's Captain Marvel performing exceptionally, having crossed the $1 billion milestone earlier this week.

Jordan Peele's Us is also starting to fade a bit, but at this point ever dollar the movie makes is pure profit. Made for just $20 million, the horror hit has already brought in $216.6 million worldwide, which is only just a big short of the $255.4 million that Get Out made when it was released in 2017. That's absolutely remarkable.

Next week we will once again be seeing a lot of variety hitting the big screen nationwide, with Neil Marshall's Hellboy, Tina Gordon Chism's Little, Laika's Missing Link, and Jenny Gage's After all arriving in wide release. Collectively they should all do a pretty nice job shaking up the Top 10, so be sure to tune in next Sunday to see how it all turns out.

Spider-Man: Far From Home May Be Hiding A Classic Villain In Plain Sight

Spider-Man: Far From Home May Be Hiding A Classic Villain In Plain Sight

Spider-Man has one of the deepest Rogues Galleries next to maybe only Batman on screen. There are so many different places that new Spider-Man movies can go with villains, that we can now see enemies like The Vulture (Michael Keaton) and Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) in the MCU for the first time because the previous Sony films already have exhausted classic comic characters like Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus.

But the Sony/Marvel Spider-Man movies also have the ability to seed the backgrounds with potential villain possibilities. Michael Mando played Mac Gargan, aka Scorpion, in Spider-Man: Homecoming. And there is a character named Dimitri in the upcoming Spider-Man: Far From Home who may or may not be set up to eventually become The Chameleon.

We asked Far From Home director Jon Watts specifically about the rumor that actor Numan Acar, who plays Dimitri, was being set up to be The Chameleon on screen, and the director revealed:

Well, Dmitri in the film works for Nick Fury and I think anyone who works for Nick Fury, they certainly have a mysterious past. We're not specifically saying that he's [Chameleon]... but we're not not saying.

The character of Dimitri shows up in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment in the trailer. He works for Nick Fury, and he can be seen to the left of Peter in this shot:

But when CinemaBlend visited the set of Spider-Man: Far From Home last year, we learned even more about how Dimitri will be used in the story.

As it turns out, Nick Fury really will hijack Peter Parker’s European vacation. After Fury recruits Spidey in Venice, he plans to place Dimitri on the class bus, taking the place of the driver, so he can drive Peter to locations where the Elementals are showing up. Executive Producer Eric Carroll walked us through the bulk of the plot for Far From Home, and told us this about Dimitri:

One of the guys on Nick's team is played by Numan Acar. He's a fantastic actor. And he's got this really great thing where he looks super imposing. He looks like the sort of guy you'd expect to be a mercenary. But he's hilarious. Just one of the funniest actors. … So now you've got this really scary-looking mercenary driving these kids around Europe. So, they get rerouted [by Fury]. They drive through the Alps, and there's a fun character set piece here where Peter, who now has access to some technology in the wake of having met up with Nick Fury, tries to use that technology for iffy purposes…. and almost blows up his bus by launching some weaponized drones that this spy team has access to.

It sounds almost like Jon Watts is asking Numan Acar to disguise himself as the school bus driver to stay near Peter Parker on this trip, and bring him to the places Nick Fury needs Spider-Man to be. Could he be… a chameleon, working for Fury?

For those who might not be aware, The Chameleon is Spider-Man’s earliest foe, appearing in issue No. 1 of The Amazing Spider-Man comics, dating back to 1963. He’s a master of disguise, a villain whose face is featureless and can basically pretend to be anyone. He’s also related to Kraven the Hunter, and damn if Numan Acar doesn’t look like he’d make an amazing Kraven, as well.

But we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves here. Spider-Man: Far From Home already has Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), and four Elemental creatures who are meant to represent MCU versions of Hydro-Man, Sandman, Molten Man and more.

We’ll see if the Chameleon really is in the cards when Spider-Man: Far From Home opens in theaters on July 2.

Hellboy Reportedly Had Some Serious Behind The Scenes Drama

Hellboy Reportedly Had Some Serious Behind The Scenes Drama

The Hellboy reboot finally arrives in theaters tomorrow, and thus far the early reception to it has not been stellar. It’s received a lot of negative reviews from critics and ranks (at the time of this writing) at a measly 12% on Rotten Tomatoes. Now word has come in that Hellboy reportedly dealt with a lot of behind-the-scenes drama during the production process, namely between director Neil Marshall and producers Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin.

According to The Wrap, Neil Marshall had a series of disagreements with Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin that “boiled over” when the producers replaced Marshall’s cinematographer, Sam McCurdy, with Lorenzo Senatore. Two people familiar with the situation who spoke to the outlet allege that McCurdy was fired because Gordon and Levin were trying to send a message to Marshall that even though he was Hellboy’s director, he was not truly in charge. While he wouldn’t comment on the reasoning behind McCurdy’s firing, Levin’s attorney, Martin Singer, responded that it was a “group decision” that wasn’t about sending a message, and accused Marshall of encouraging this story.

But this is just one clash that supposedly occurred during the making of Hellboy. Other issues reportedly included Lloyd Levin repeatedly interrupting Neil Marshall as he was rehearsing the actors to give different directions; David Harbour walking off set several times and refusing to deliver the extra takes Marshall wanted; and the script being rewritten throughout production, with one rewrite being handled by Harbour and co-star Ian McShane, among others.

However, perhaps the most bizarre issue that reportedly popped up during the making of Hellboy was a disagreement over a “surreal tree” that appears in the movie. Neil Marshall wanted the tree to be asymmetrical and “realistic-looking,” but Lloyd Levin ignored that request and had the tree be symmetrical, though the tree ultimately became asymmetrical as originally intended during postproduction.

Furthermore, after Neil Marshall handed in his cut of Hellboy, the producers allegedly took over and applied their own changes to the movie. Martin Singer claims that Marshall had never been promised the final cut on Hellboy.

It’s hard to say just how much of this information is accurate and who is truly responsible for what, but it sounds like the Hellboy journey was a long and difficult one. Unfortunately, it’s not like this story is anything new in the Hollywood sphere. There’s no shortage of reports about behind-the-scenes difficulties during the making of a major motion picture, like the 2015 Fantastic Four reboot.

It’d be one thing if despite all these disagreements, Hellboy still managed to come together as an exceptional product, but evidently that’s not the case going off the overall critical reception. It’s safe to say that this will not go down in the film history books as one of the more beloved comic book movies, but as far as this behind-the-scenes drama goes, it’s possible this isn’t the last we’ve heard about it, and that more details will be revealed in the near future.

You can judge Hellboy for yourself starting this weekend, but if you’re interested about what other movies are opening this year, look through our 2019 release schedule.

4 Great Frozen Songs That Aren't 'Let It Go'

4 Great Frozen Songs That Aren't 'Let It Go'

Listen, everyone knows "Let It Go." Chances are, if you have lived through the year 2013, or especially if you have young children running around the house, you have heard the popular, Oscar-winning Disney single from the hit animated film, Frozen. Then, you've probably heard it again. And again. And again, and again, and again, and again.

The invigorating, wondrous and captivating song has been a persistent fixture of pop culture ever since it was first belted by the great Idina Menzel (also known as "Adele Dazeem" by certain Oscar presenters). But even though it's the most famous song from the movie, the other songs from the hit album shouldn't be dismissed in the process. There is enough love to go around when it comes to the Frozen soundtrack.

There is no denying that "Let It Go" is a great song. But we want to make a case for the rest of the songs from Frozen's soundtrack. Therefore, here are some other Frozen songs that you've certainly heard before but should be given a second thought before you put "Let It Go" for the 400th time today.

"Frozen Heart"

Before we meet Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Kristoff and all our main characters, and before we even heart the opening notes of "Let It Go," we're introduced to the world of Frozen through the thunderous, nordic village song, "Frozen Heart." An intensive, pulsating working tune is our worldbuilding song, the track that puts us into the world of our animated characters and invites us into their wintry terrain. As a result, while it is gruffer and more action-intensive than the other songs on this soundtrack, it's a great way into get yourself immersed in the frosty story.

The rhythmic slashing of the pickaxes trudging into the frozen ground sets the mood for the introductory song, letting us see the beauty in the mundane world and capturing the icy energy of the hardworking singers. It's a pulsating, hard and fast song with an excellent hook and yet a somber mood. It's also a nice way of letting us understand the mood of the film, which can be as warm as it can be cold in equal turns.

"Do You Want To Build A Snowman?"

Arguably the second most famous song in Frozen, to be clear, "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?" is, nevertheless, a sweet-hearted, instantly catchy and heart-tugging tune. It's filled with childhood whimsy, copious bouts of heart and an underlying melancholy at the dysfunction that can often arise between siblings. A literal hot-and-cold relationship, as it were.

Performed by Agatha Lee Monn & Katie Lopez, along with Kristen Bell, "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?" is intentionally simple, relying on its warm innocence and cold sadness, mixed lovingly by its compassionate singers, to sell the emotional crux of the song. Particularly since it serves as one of our introductory tracks, it knows that it is important to keep the song straightforward and character-focused, along us — the viewer and the listener — to understand the broken dynamic between these distant sisters, and one sister's sincere, earnest effort to reconnect with her cold-shouldered sibling.

It's a song both loving and lovely, capturing the vulnerability and inner desires of our young characters with gentle and resonating impact. It's not quite a powerhouse the way "Let It Go" is, but "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?" does have a lot of emotional impact. No matter how many times you hear it, it always packs a punch.

"In Summer"

A jazzy, frothy and appropriate warm upbeat diddy that's given a great deal of character and personality by singer and performer Josh Gad, "In Summer" is a cute and humorous ode to the impending summertime sung by a clueless Olaf. As we all know, Olaf the Scene-Stealing Snowman believes the warm summer season will bring bright and sunny days for him, unaware of what happens to snow when the temperature peaks. As a result, the song finds Olaf singing sweet praises to the hot season that will eventually bring his demise, falsely thinking the future will be more joyful.

Therefore, "In Summer" mirrors the snowman's ironically warm demeanor. It captures the misguided belief of the singing supporting character that sunny days are ahead, in more ways than one, and that it won't be long before a permanent smile will be placed on his carrot-nosed snow-based face. Obviously, everyone else — including the other characters in the scene — know that Olaf is delusional, to say the least. But the rousing and passionate song is great at capturing Olaf's aloof mindset and helping us to understand his misguided belief that the beaming sun will bring peace and happiness.

"Fixer Upper"

With its upbeat tempo, high energy and charming array of characters, it's surprising that "Fixer Upper" isn't a bigger hit. The song, which plays prominently in the middle of the movie, can sort of feel a bit out of place in the scheme of the story. It kinda comes out of nowhere, and it's sung through a variety of characters who were only introduced a brief moment before. Nevertheless, in terms of sheer entertainment, it's hard to beat.

Featuring the voice talents of Maia Wilson, along with the prominent cast and several other talented musicians, "Fixer Upper" is a spontaneous and silly number compared to the rest of the film. With its assortment of bathroom gags and different off-beat comic touches, it can feel a little jarring compared to the tone of the rest of the film. Nevertheless, what's fun is fun. And this song has a great heart and a ton of energy to boot. And much like the title would suggest, it comes into the film just when it could use a pep in its story.

Of course, if you own the Frozen soundtrack, there is a good chance that you have already heard these songs several times before, in a continual loop. While "Let It Go" is still — and will remain — the most famous song on the soundtrack, and the one that will forever continue to get the most plays, the rest of the soundtrack shouldn't be disparaged in the process.

Therefore, the next time you, or your kids, decides to put on the Frozen soundtrack, it might be best to try one of these popular (and less-than-popular) songs instead. And remember, there is a whole new batch of Frozen songs in the future when Frozen 2 storms its way into theaters on November 22nd.

How The Avatar Crew Feels About Fox Selling To Disney

How The Avatar Crew Feels About Fox Selling To Disney

Avatar is the highest-grossing movie of all time, which also makes it 20th Century Fox's highest-grossing movie. It's certainly something the studio had a right to brag about. But now Disney owns Fox, and James Cameron can no longer lean on his tight relationship with Rupert Murdoch and family. That relationship started with Aliens back in 1986 and was meant to continue through the upcoming Avatar sequels.

So how does the Avatar team feel about Fox now being owned by Disney? Bittersweet is one word to describe it. Here's what Titanic and Avatar producer Jon Landau had to say:

We're very sad the Murdochs chose to sell the company. But if they're going to sell the company, there's nobody better than Disney to sell it to. They get Avatar in terms of what its potential is, not just as a movie but as a franchise.

And Disney has enough money to fund it all, so that helps.

Jon Landau is James Cameron's producer at Lightstorm Entertainment, and he stayed positive and hopeful in his quote to The Hollywood Reporter. As THR noted, James Cameron had an unusually strong bond with Fox's Murdochs -- in one example, they gave him the extra time he needed for the much-delayed Titanic, which certainly paid off -- and now he's working for Disney. Disney is a place where IP like Marvel and Star Wars are the real stars and he's not likely to have any kind of special relationship like he enjoyed with the Murdochs.

However, the Avatar team has already worked with Disney on past projects, including theme parks, so it's not like they are all strangers starting from scratch.

There are four planned sequels to Avatar, which made $2,787,965,087 worldwide after its December 2009 release. A couple of months ago, producer Jon Landau said each movie would be a standalone movie, and you won't have had to see Avatar to enjoy Avatar 2. (But is there anyone left who hasn't seen Avatar?)

In 2016, James Cameron said the storyline of the sequels would follow Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and their children, as more of a family saga about the struggle with the humans.

In January 2019, Disney CEO Bob Iger referenced two Avatar sequels on the way, but noted Disney hadn't given Avatar 4 and 5 the green light at that point. However, Jon Landau followed that by saying Iger's quotes may have been misinterpreted --- telling HeyUGuys not only were Avatar 4 and 5 greenlit, they had already filmed part of Avatar 4.

In February, Jon Landau told Collider the performance-capture parts of Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 -- and part of Avatar 4 -- were complete. He said they would be filming the live-action portions in New Zealand this spring, aka right about now.

Just recently in late March, Jon Landau told THR they were moving forward on production the same way they were before the Disney/Fox deal officially closed last week.

Way back in 2006, James Cameron had said if Avatar was successful, he wanted to make two sequels. Well, it did pretty well. Sequels were originally scheduled for 2014 and 2015. Obviously that didn't happen, and future dates also didn't pan out.

James Cameron is no stranger to delays, and no stranger to gigantic blockbusters. The good news is that technology has advanced so much in the past decade that the sequels should be more impressive than ever.

As of now, Avatar 2 is scheduled for release on December 18, 2020, which would be exactly 11 years after Avatar opened. Avatar 2 is currently scheduled for December 17, 2021. The next films are expected in 2024 and 2025.

By the way, Jon Landau and James Cameron also produced Alita: Battle Angel for Fox. There are question marks on whether that film made enough to justify sequels, but it sounds like the ball might be in Disney's court for that decision.

Stop Asking O'Shea Jackson About Space Jam 2, People

Stop Asking O'Shea Jackson About Space Jam 2, People

Reporting on casting rumors in Hollywood can be a tricky business. While it’s true that stuff leaks all the time and winds up being true, there are many instances when false information makes its way around town despite not actually holding any water. This article is about a case of the latter – specifically involving actor O’Shea Jackson Jr. and the developing Space Jam 2. See what I mean by clicking play on the video below:

I recently attended the Los Angeles press junket for the new Jonathan Levine comedy Long Shot, and while sitting down with O’Shea Jackson Jr. I took the opportunity to ask him about projects that he has in the works… or at least a project that I thought he had in the works. While preparing for the interview, I noticed on the actor’s IMDb page that he was listed as a co-star in Space Jam 2, and given the heat that project has I was curious about what kind of significance it had for him.

As it turns out, though, the Straight Outta Compton star actually has no relationship with the production at this current time, and had a rather funny reaction when I brought the movie up in conversation.

I was clearly not the first person to bring up Space Jam 2 that day, and the confusion that the fake casting rumor evoked from O’Shea Jackson Jr. was rather entertaining. While he did note it’s a project of which he’d like to be a part, at this time it is definitely not something with which he is currently involved. And this is despite the fact that the project is STILL listed on his IMDb page as one of his upcoming movies alongside Michael Dougherty’s Godzilla: King Of The Monsters and Destin Daniel Cretton’s Just Mercy:

So what is going on with Space Jam 2? The long-awaited sequel, which has been developing for many years, is set to star LeBron James as himself, essentially taking over the role that Michael Jordan played in the 1996 original, and will see him on a special adventure featuring the familiar Looney Tunes stars. With Ryan Coogler on board as a producer, director Terence Nance is attached to make the movie as his second feature after the 2012 animated An Oversimplification of Her Beauty. There have been reports that the movie will co-star Star Trek: Discovery’s Sonequa Martin-Green, who will apparently be playing James’ wife, but given the situation with O’Shea Jackson Jr., it almost feels appropriate to throw that out there with a grain of salt until she personally confirms the casting.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if O’Shea Jackson Jr.-in-Space Jam 2 is a thing that really comes together, but the good news is that fans won’t have to wait until July 2021 to hypothetically see the actor back up on the big screen. Long Shot, which stars Jackson, Seth Rogen, Charlize Theron, June Diane Raphael, Ravi Patel, and Andy Serkis, will be in theaters this Friday – and we’ll have more from my interviews with the cast and director coming very soon, so stay tuned here on CinemaBlend!