A Django Unchained Sequel Is In The Works, And Zorro’s Involved

A Django Unchained Sequel Is In The Works, And Zorro’s Involved

With the exception of Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Volume 2, which were filmed simultaneously and are really just two halves of the same story, Quentin Tarantino has delivered a sequel to any of his movies. However, that could soon change, because word’s come in that Django Unchained is getting a follow-up that’s based on the comic book series where he teamed up with legendary pulp hero Zorro.

Dynamite Entertainment and DC Comics jointly published the Django/Zorro seven-issue miniseries from 2014 to 2015, which Quentin Tarantino worked on with longtime comic book writer Matt Wagner. Fast-forward to now, plans are in motion to adapt this story into a movie, as Collider reports that Tarantino has tapped Jerrod Carmichael of The Carmichael Show fame to write the script for this Django Unchained/Zorro crossover project.

Apparently Sony has been interested in tackling such a project since around the time the comic book series was being published. One of the emails in the infamous 2014 Sony hack showed that Quentin Tarantino told the studio’s then-head honcho Amy Pascal that a team-up between those characters sounded “super cool.”

While it’s unclear if the Django/Zorro movie is officially set up at Sony, the studio did handle the international release of Django Unchained, and after Quentin Tarantino cut ties with The Weinstein Company, he brought his latest movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, to Sony. So it would make sense for this movie to find a home there.

It hasn’t been clarified if Jerrod Carmichael is working on the Django/Zorro script on his own, if Quentin Tarantino is tackling it with him or if another, unidentified writer is involved. It also remains to be seen if Quentin Tarantino would direct Django/Zorro, though as the report notes, Tarantino has said many times that he plans to retire after making his tenth film, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is Film #9. So it’s a good bet that he may end up simply producing Django/Zorro should it get the green light.

For those unfamiliar with the original Django/Zorro comic book, it took place several years after the events of Django Unchained and followed the Jamie Foxx-portrayed character continuing his bounty hunting and sending money from his jobs back to his wife, Hildi. During one job in the Southwest, he crosses paths with Diego de la Vega, a.k.a. Zorro, and the two join forces to the local indigenous people from slavery.

No doubt Jamie Foxx would reprise Django in this adaptation, as it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the character. As for Zorro, it’ll be a while until we learn who will don the mask and wield the sword, but this would mark the character’s first big screen appearance since 2005’s The Legend of Zorro, where he was reprised by Antonio Banderas.

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more news on how Django/Zorro is coming along. In the meantime, you can plan your trips to the movie theater this year accordingly by looking through our 2019 release schedule.

Bohemian Rhapsody Editor Drops F-Bomb Over Viral Mocked Scene

Bohemian Rhapsody Editor Drops F-Bomb Over Viral Mocked Scene

Although it has a bevy of awards to its name and made almost $1 billion at the box office, Bohemian Rhapsody has faced quite a bit of criticism. The aspect of the film that has perhaps received the most criticism is the editing, particularly in the scene where Queen first meets manager John Reid, played by Mr. Chaos is a Ladder himself, Aidan Gillen. And that scene has been held up as evidence that Bohemian Rhapsody did not deserve all of its many accolades.

The scene, which was the subject of a viral video that garnered millions of views, was mocked for the seemingly haphazard way it was edited-- with extremely rapid and jarring cuts. The film’s editor (and composer) John Ottman, who won an Oscar for his editing, is well aware of the criticism of the scene and in a recent interview he dropped an F-bomb over it. John Ottman said:

In fact, I went to Fox the other day and had them fire up the Avid and all the media. Because I wanted that scene how I originally cut it. So someday I’m going to do a fucking dissertation and show ‘here’s how I cut it originally, and now here’s what happens when too many cooks get in the kitchen and are paranoid about pace’

Wow, John Ottman might have earned an Oscar for his trouble, but he is clearly still frustrated at how that scene turned out and the ensuing backlash, which has naturally landed on him as the film’s editor. As he told Epicleff Media’s Score: The Podcast, he was so frustrated that he actually went back in the editing bay just to recut the scene and see it again how he originally intended.

That seems to be the major source of frustration for the Oscar winner. He has spoken before about how the scene makes him want to put a bag over his head and the reason for that is that it is not what he wanted it to be. He is not proud of that scene because, as he said, that is not how he originally cut it.

John Ottman may have been the editor on Bohemian Rhapsody but that doesn’t mean that he had complete and total authority on how the movie was cut. Although he went on to say that the director change was not the culprit behind the scene, John Ottman was still constantly getting notes from the studio about the edit.

John Ottman admits was the final cut of that mocked patio scene was his, the result of “too many cooks”, and notes from the studio that forced him to shave down the scene. The studio was worried that the first act was getting too long and it wanted to maintain the pace of the film without slowing down for the scene where Queen meets John Reid.

Describing the effect that had on the scene, John Ottman said:

I took the original version that I cut and all the nuggets and cool things in it we wanted to preserve…so I kept hacking it down, hacking it down, faster, faster, faster, cut things out of it. But if there’s a look or something you want to keep it in there. So what happens is by trying to keep all the old stuff in, but having the scene be half the length, it made it too fast.

So what happened was John Ottman had to take a scene that was much longer, and edit it down with quicker pacing-- all while maintaining pivotal elements of the original scene. The end result of those somewhat opposing objectives is the action-movie/montage pacing of the mocked patio conversation scene.

Around Oscar time there was talk that John Ottman basically saved Bohemian Rhapsody in the editing room and given what he said here, I’d be very curious what his ‘Editor’s Cut’ of the film would look like. It seems unlikely we’ll ever get that, but maybe one day he’ll get to do his “fucking dissertation” on the effect studio notes and too many cooks can have on a movie.

While that scene may always be a thorn in John Ottman’s side, he still was a big part of a massively successful movie and he got his first Oscar out of it, so I’d say it’s a net win.

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the latest movie news and check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of the biggest movies you can look forward to this summer.

Samuel L. Jackson Admits He Made Up Captain Marvel’s Time Traveling

Samuel L. Jackson Admits He Made Up Captain Marvel’s Time Traveling

It's a very exciting time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There are just two movies left in Phase Three, with over a decade of filmmaking coming to a head when Avengers: Endgame finally arrives in theaters. The surviving heroes will have to unite with some new faces in order to fight Thanos after his finger snap of death wiped out half the galaxy. Assistance will come from Ant-Man and Captain Marvel, with the latter being described as the most powerful hero in the MCU.

Captain Marvel's powers will finally be revealed in her solo movie this weekend, before she crosses over in Endgame a month later. It's unclear how the Avengers will be able to reverse Thanos' snap, although time travel has been a common theory. This was given extra wight when Samuel L. Jackson teased that Carol Danvers could time travel during press for Captain Marvel. But now he's admitting he was pulling our leg, recently saying:

I made stuff up. I said she could time travel one time. I was just blowing smoke. It was actually a mistake, we were tired, end of the day, they had a bunch of people on set... They bring reporters to set and you're working all day and they want you to stop in the middle of the day and go talk to a table full of people for no reason. It's like, ‘really?’

Well, that puts one rumor to bed. Captain Marvel isn't typically a character who could hop around time and space. So Samuel L. Jackson admitting he was messing around will no doubt help to calm the nerves of hardcore comic book fans who took umbrage with this bold change in the canon.

Samuel L. Jackson told the truth during an appearance on Kroq radio alongside Captain Marvel co-stars Brie Larson, Ben Mendelsohn, and Clark Gregg. When doing press for the upcoming Marvel blockbuster, it turns out that Jackson accidentally made his time traveling comments out of mere exhaustion. It seems to have its origin in a set visit, and then snowballed as the news hit the internet, and Marvel fans began collectively losing their minds.

Aside from making Captain Marvel even more powerful than she's already rumored to be, giving Carol Danvers time traveling abilities would have presumably had major implications for the events of Avengers: Endgame. Time travel seems all but inevitable in the upcoming ensemble film, especially as reports from the set indicated a return to The Battle of New York from The Avengers. While many believed this would be accomplished through Ant-Man's exposure to The Quantum Realm, Samuel L. Jackson's comments about Captain Marvel made things all the more confusing.

The talks about Captain Marvel’s time traveling powers dumbfounded comic book fans. Marvel Studios had already been hyping up just how incredibly overpowered Carol Danvers was, so having her be able to manipulate time and space without the Time Stone seems like it might be overkill. But it turns out that Samuel L. Jackson was messing around all along.

Samuel L. Jackson first mentioned Captain Marvel’s apparent time traveling skills during a set visit for Captain Marvel. When speaking about Carol Danver’s mass powers and influence over the greater MCU, Jackson said:

She's pretty much the strongest character -- in terms of someone with powers are able to do things -- in the Marvel universe. So, for Carol Danvers to be that person and for Brie to become that person, it's gonna be a dynamite thing. I mean, [the Avengers] are up against some really, really tough odds right now -- we saw throughout Infinity War -- so now we know that we need something that's as powerful as Thanos. And at some point, we'll find out how powerful she is and all the things that she's capable of. She's one of the few people in the Marvel universe that can time travel, so…

His final line is the one that started it all, and began endless fan theories. With Marvel Studios keeping its cards so close to the chest in the year between Infinity War and Endgame, it seemed like anything was possible. Samuel L. Jackson has a role in both Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far From Home, so he’s privy to more information than the average joe.

Samuel L. Jackson added more fuel to the fire in a separate interview, as the road to Captain Marvel went on. In a separate comment, Jackson once again teased Carol's ability to travel through time, and even directly teased its connection to Nick Fury's end-credits scene from Avengers: Infinity War. He expanded, saying:

I guess we might figure out that she can do things that nobody else can do. She can time travel so maybe she can get ahead or behind or whatever, and figure out what all that is. The fact I have the pager 20 years later – it gets addressed in an interesting sort of way.

With two separate quotes on the books, it seemed like Captain Marvel would be popping through various time periods throughout the MCU, possibly serving as the catalyst the heroes' victory in Endgame. But now Samuel L. Jackson has clarified his comments, revealing he was joking the whole time. That realization should illicit a variety of reactions from the fandom. Comic purists will be relived that the character wasn't being changed in such a major way, while other fans might be tiffed that they'd been sold a false bill of goods. But Jackson has been in the MCU for a long time, and he's not usually one for spoiling movie's contents. So why would he start now?

Luckily for moviegoers, answers are finally on their way. Captain Marvel will arrive in theaters this week on March 8th, and Avengers: Endgame will follow suit on April 26th. Sam Jackson will also help kickstart Phase Four with Spider-Man: Far From Home July 5th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

The Rock Reveals New Look At Disney's Jungle Cruise As Filming Re-Wraps After Delay

The Rock Reveals New Look At Disney's Jungle Cruise As Filming Re-Wraps After Delay

The idea of transforming popular Disneyland theme park attractions into blockbuster feature films has been around for a while, but the idea has created more misses than hits overall. Only the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise has been able to turn the concept into box office success. Now, another attraction found in Walt Disney World's Adventureland, the Jungle Cruise, is going to try and follow that successful formula, and the project is now one step closer to reality after wrapping up its reshoots.

Dwayne Johnson has dropped some images from the end of shooting and revealed that he's officially done with his part of making Jungle Cruise the movie come to life in front of the camera. Along with the announcement, he also heaps praise on his co-star Emily Blunt, and reveals a few details about the movie and the relationship between the two characters. Check it out below.

Originally, Jungle Cruise was given a release date of October this year, before getting pushed back to July of 2020. At the time, no reason was given for the delay and it appeared that it may have simply been done to fill a hole that was left when the next Indiana Jones movie got delayed yet again.

However, since reshoots have apparently been taking place over the last few days or weeks, barely four months before the film's original release date, it seems that the need for reshoots may have played a part in the release date being pushed back. Although, it's also possible that the reshoots could have happened sooner and were only done now because the movie had the time. Considering how busy he seems to be, one has to believe The Rock has cloned himself in order to handle all his open projects and can be anywhere he needs to be.

Reshoots are often part of the planned filming schedule, but they occasionally end up being more extensive than originally anticipated and if that happened here, it could have been part of the reason for the release date move.

At least one sequence in the reshoots does appear to have been quite involved. Dwayne Johnson shared an image of himself surrounded entirely by blue screen in what sounds like a pretty extensive effects scene based on the Rock's description of it as something he would never forget.

Whatever this scene was, it would certainly require a lot of post-production work, so there would likely be no way it would be ready by this October.

Jungle Cruise is certainly looking to follow in the footsteps of the Pirates franchise, and considering that particular film series doesn't look like it will have any new installments anytime soon, one expects that Disney is also hoping that this theme park attraction turned movie will also see similar success. We'll find out when Jungle Cruise hits theaters next summer.

First Joker Trailer: Joaquin Phoenix Is Here To Freak You Out

First Joker Trailer: Joaquin Phoenix Is Here To Freak You Out

DC comics contains some seriously iconic characters, beloved by generations of fans on the page and screen. As such, the DC live-action universe has a ton of hype around it, as moviegoers delight in seeing their favorites in theaters. Warner Bros.' massive franchise is on the upswing right now, with the massive success of Aquaman and anticipation for Shazam! But there's also some decidedly darker projects coming down the pipeline, chief of which being Todd Phillips' Joker movie.

Joker will provide an origin story for the Clown Prince of Crime, and will be disconnected from the greater DCEU. Todd Phillips assembled an impressive cast, and now the first peak into the project has finally arrived. Check it out below.

Does anyone else have chills? Todd Phillips has promised a comic book movie unlike anything we've seen before in the genre, and this first trailer certainly hammers that home. Now let's break down exactly what we're being shown.

The Joker trailer opens on Joaquin Phoenix's protagonist Arthur Fleck during his time at Arkham Asylum. Except, the mental health facility is called Arkham State Hospital in this version of the story. His character is a mentally ill man struggling in Gotham City, and watching as both the iconic setting and his own mental health deteriorate in front of him. And at some point, he's going to break and transform into the titular villain.

This first footage establishes the tone Todd Phillips' project will have, which is decidedly pulled back compared to other comic book adaptations. The movie was made on a modest $55 million, and it will be more dialogue driven and dramatic than full of superpowered action sequences and over the top costumes. Instead, audiences will follow as Joker gives birth to an over the top character, in a far more realistic world.

Arthur Fleck might not be robbing a bank or battling The Bat, but there's plenty of iconic Joker moments in film's first trailer. The birth of his iconic laugh can be seen, and it'll even get Arthur in trouble in the subway. He's also seen with the strange chuckle in a comedy club, presumably one that he plays as a failed comic. Joaquin Phoenix's character wears a variety of hats throughout the trailer, trying to scrape by and take care of his mother (Frances Conroy) in the process.

Robert De Niro makes a brief appearance in the Joker trailer, as Todd Phillips shows off his impressive cast. De Niro is playing a talk show host in the origin story, although it's unclear how he connects with Arthur's descent into madness. The clips show the character transforming little by little, eventually becoming the chaotic and joyful figure we know and love. And it looks like it's going to be a wild and creepy run to the finish line.

Joker will arrive in theaters on October 4th, just in time for Halloween. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Sylvester Stallone Gets Fans Pumped For The Expendables 4 With Badass Throwback Photo

Sylvester Stallone Gets Fans Pumped For The Expendables 4 With Badass Throwback Photo

The Expendables 4 has had a roller-coaster journey, and we still don't know exactly when it's showing up. Whether he intended to hype that movie or not, Sylvester Stallone definitely got fans ready for more action with his recent Expendables throwback photo. Here's Sly with fellow "wiseguys" Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis from the set of The Expendables 2:

Arnold Schwarzenegger had tweeted the same pic out in October 2011 at the start of Expendables 2 production in Bulgaria.

The Expendables came out in 2010, directed and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, co-starring Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, and many more -- with uncredited cameos from Bruce Willis and Ahhhhnold.

The Expendables 2 came out in 2012, still co-written by Sylvester Stallone, but not directed by him. Jason Statham, Jet Li and Dolph Lundgren returned, along with Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, plus Chuck Norris, Terry Crews, Jean-Claude Van Damme and more.

The Expendables 3 came out in 2014, still co-written by Sylvester Stallone, and this time adding Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes, and many more. (Bruce Willis didn't bring Mr. Church back for the third movie.)

Based on that release schedule, you'd think The Expendables 4 would've shown up in 2016. But things got complicated.

First, in 2016, it was announced that the fourth movie would be happening as the final movie of the franchise, with Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, and Arnold Schwarzenegger all expected to return.

However, in March 2017, Sylvester Stallone walked away from the franchise. According to Deadline, it was because he and Nu Image/Millennium chief Avi Lerner could not find common ground on multiple fronts, including a new director.

In April 2017, Arnold Schwarzenegger told EW he wouldn't be in The Expendables 4 without Sylvester Stallone. Also, he wasn't that happy with how his role was written in the third movie. He loved the first two, and he loves the franchise, but he wouldn't return without Sly and without a better role for himself.

Fast forward to January 2018, and Sly Stallone gave fans renewed hope with this post:

Keep going to May 2018, and it looked official -- The Expendables 4 was back! Deadline had a report on distribution rights for both Rambo 5 -- which is coming to theaters later this year -- and The Expendables 4. According to that report, Stallone would star in The Expendables 4 in early 2019.

That's the last official word on the matter, other than Terry Crews saying he was out because of a producer's involvement.

But this new throwback photo from Sylvester Stallone may be another plug. Hopefully it's telling that it's from the second movie, which was the most successful with critics, fans, and the worldwide box office. Stay tuned for more updates. In the meantime, keep up with the films coming to the big screen this year -- including Rambo V: Last Blood -- with our handy movie release date schedule.

Zoe Saldana Recalls Anton Yelchin Being ‘Nervous’ To Do Star Trek Justice

Zoe Saldana Recalls Anton Yelchin Being ‘Nervous’ To Do Star Trek Justice

A decade ago this week, Star Trek brought the legendary sci-fi franchise that Gene Roddenberry created for audiences in the ‘60s into a more modern context. And the cast and crew involved knew just how daunting a task that was, especially the actor playing the young version of Ensign Pavel Chekov, the late Anton Yelchin.

Anton Yelchin’s thoughts were conveyed by fellow Star Trek co-star Zoe Saldana in a new documentary entitled Love, Antonsha, which reflects on the untimely passing of Yelchin, and the legacy his brief, but luminous career has left behind. Saldana recalled the young man’s bout of nerves as follows:

He was so aware about the importance of Star Trek and the message that Star Trek had. He understood why it managed to live for such a long time, and he was nervous about being a part of it and giving it that justice.

When the character of Pavel Chekov was initially created, it was in the name of the brand of sci-fi optimism that Gene Roddenberry and his Star Trek brand were always meant to uphold. So obviously, rebooting such a staple of pop culture in the present day is a task that has to be handled very carefully.

This was especially true with Chekov, a Russian member of the multi-ethnicity crew of the USS Enterprise that signaled not only would the Cold War raging in reality eventually end, but that Russia would have a place on the greater world stage in the future. While that prophecy would be fulfilled, Anton Yelchin obviously still felt the weight of keeping this character true to his roots when making Star Trek with J.J. Abrams.

Anton Yelchin’s fears about doing justice to Ensign Chekov is just one of the many stories populating Love Antonsha, which the projects director, Garret Price, apparently didn’t have a hard time gathering. While talking to EW about the projects’ status, as well as sharing the clip of Zoe Saldana recounting her co-star with this beautiful story, Price mentioned that about 60 different A-listers had contributed in some way or another to this collection of memories. And the best part was they didn’t need to be convinced all that hard to say yes.

It’s not difficult to see why Anton Yelchin is so fondly remembered, and that extends even to the Star Trek franchise itself. While he was able to make the first three films in the modern reboot series, there’s still a bit of a discussion as to how his role will be filled, should Star Trek 4 move forward.

A fourth film is a rather questionable prospect at this time, but should any movement be made, it’s safe to assume that J.J. Abrams’ previous remarks about how both Anton Yelchin and Chekov are irreplaceable in the Star Trek universe will inform the decision that pertains to the helm of the Enterprise in its continuing mission.

Love Antonsha will be released into theaters at some point this summer. As soon as we have more information as to when to expect that film, we’ll report back, as well as update our 2019 release schedule accordingly.