John Wick 3's Big Spoiler Scene Caused A Bunch Of Challenges

John Wick 3's Big Spoiler Scene Caused A Bunch Of Challenges

The following contains spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum.

The newest installment of the John Wick franchise once again puts the title character through hell. He's set upon by another army of assassins trying to kill him and he must fight them off almost entirely alone, and while Wick has proven resilient, he hasn't made it this far without some scars. However, the biggest injury John Wick has yet sustained comes in John Wick Chapter 3 - Parabellum, and it's an injury that caused problems not just for the character, but also the production of the movie itself.

Without diving too deep into spoiler territory, John Wick sustains a serious injury to his left hand, one that required the use of CGI in order to recreate the damage any time you saw Keanu Reeves left hand throughout the rest of the movie.

The problem is that Keanu Reeves is left-handed, which meant that a not insignificant amount of money was going to need to be spent on CGI for the new movie because you were going to be seeing that hand a lot. According to director Chad Stahelski...

No one creatively saw a problem with it, but it comes down to a simple matter of financials. Without giving away the spoiler, you saw it; you know what he does. That’s on his lead hand. You have a left-handed actor who’s just deformed his left hand and that left hand is in every shot of the third act of the movie. VFX wise, there’s a cost associated with that. There’s logistical problems and practical filming that are associated with that. The studio does their job of questioning my visions and my methods to see if I really like it

It seems that Lionsgate, the studio behind the John Wick franchise, had to at least ask the director if this decision was really a necessary one. While it was understood from a story perspective, movies are a commercial venture after all, and so cost is always going to be a concern. According to THR, The director apparently had to make concessions in the budget in other places in order to make sure the money was there to handle the CGI costs.

For whatever it's worth, odds are that the studio probably doesn't mind the additional CGI costs as much right now. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum had the biggest opening in the franchise history this past weekend, and a fourth film has already been green lit. Of course, most of John Wick: Chapter 4 is going to be that much more expensive because the injury in question won't be healing in the next movie, so the next film will need to use CGI for the entire run.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum is in theaters now.

Bruce Campbell Is Playing Evil Dead’s Ash Again, But Not How You’d Think

Bruce Campbell Is Playing Evil Dead’s Ash Again, But Not How You’d Think

Heroes may come and go, but only the most resilient find their way back to the danger. Just ask Bruce Campbell, as his most famous role as the Evil Dead franchise’s Ash Williams is one that’s waxed and waned like our fickle moon. And just when everyone thought he was gone for good, Ash is about to saddle up for action yet again. Only this time, it’s going to be in another realm he’s not unfamiliar with: the world of video games.

Despite Campbell, for the most part, retiring the role of Evil Dead’s Ash Williams after the cancelation of Ash vs. Evil Dead, it looks like he’ll be strapping on the chainsaw again for the multi-platform game, Dead By Daylight. Currently available on PC, Playstation 4, and Xbox One, the concept of the game is very much an Evil Dead inspired affair.

With the objective of the game being that the four survivors in play must repair the required number of emergency generators that will allow for their escape, it’s already terra firma for the man who survived three films, three seasons of his own TV show, and various comic book appearances. The similarities only increase in Dead By Daylight’s gameplay when it’s hindered by the fact that there’s one player hunting those survivors as the killer, whose objective is to clear the board in vicious, bloody fashion. And, you’ll get to play through it all, with the likeness and vocal stylings of Bruce Campbell being fully integrated into the game’s killer engine.

So, yeah, adding Ash Williams as a playable survivor is as good of an idea as when a previous Dead By Dayilght update brought fellow horror legend Laurie Strode to the game. If you’re one of those types that’s liable to want to cross over famous franchises such as Halloween and Evil Dead, this news from Variety just gave you further incentive to go out and buy yourself a copy. Unless you’re a Nintendo Switch owner, in which case you’ll have to wait until this fall. Still, it’s pretty exciting news.

Though he’s had plenty of video game adventures of his own on various console generations, seeing Ash Williams heading to Dead By Daylight so soon after being told we would probably never see or hear from him again has us hopeful. Should this recent offering in a long line of famous franchise themed DLC sell like hotcakes, maybe there’s a possibility that Bruce Campbell could snag an Evil Dead themed game franchise as previously promised; which opens up a pathway for him to rope dear friend and series creator Sam Raimi back in to tell more stories in that particular sandbox. It’s far from a given, but fans can dream, can’t they?

If you’re looking to try out Dead By Daylight’s latest, boomstick toting survivor, and just happen to be at the PAX East convention this weekend, stop by their booth and hail to the king! Otherwise, the DLC featuring Ash Williams will be available on April 2nd.

Bond 25, An Updated Cast List

Bond 25, An Updated Cast List

It’s hard to believe it has been four years since Spectre came out in theaters and it will be five years before the still-untitled Bond 25 comes out. For a short while we were on a fairly steady diet of Daniel Craig movies, with Skyfall and Spectre coming out three years apart and Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace coming out two years apart.

However, there was a four-year gap between Quantum of Solace and Skyfall, so I suppose we shouldn’t fret too much about Bond 25 and how long it is taking to come together. On that note, casting is finally a reality for the new movie, which will bring Daniel Craig back, assumedly for the last time.

If you are as pumped for the still-untitled Bond 25 as we are, be sure to check out our updated cast list below and check back for new add-ons to the cast and more.

Daniel Craig as James Bond

Yes, Daniel Craig is game for at least one more round as the famous British agent 007. The actor was confirmed to be returning in July of 2017 and has been allegedly working out like a fiend since then in order to whip himself into shape for his final hurrah.

He has said it should be his last time playing the iconic character and he would be open to any gender or race taking over the role.

Rami Malek as The Villain

Following his star-making turn as Freddie Mercury, the Mr. Robot actor will be joining the Bond franchise in a currently-unnamed villainous role. He’s already spoken to fans with a first message about his inclusion into the cast.

Due to the fact the movie will be filming in Jamaica like Dr. No, some have speculated his character will be somehow related to that character or flick, but this has currently in no way, shape or form been confirmed. Stay tuned.

Jeffrey Wright as Felix Leiter

That’s “Wright,” the fan-favorite Westworld actor is returning to the Bond fold to play Felix Leiter in Bond 25. Like Rami Malek, this had been speculated for a while.

However, Barbara Broccoli and co. recently confirmed Jeffrey Wright’s return for the first time since he appeared in Quantum of Solace (in a role that was ultimately cut down). Bond’s friend is mentioned in Spectre and he’ll be back in this next film.

Ralph Fiennes as M

Taking over for the former M played by Judi Dench, this M’s full name is Lieutenant Colonel Gareth Mallory. We know this because he was originally introduced in Skyfall as the head of the Intelligence and Security Committee.

He’ll be back in Bond 25, although a month ago he said he still didn’t have any details on the movie. Ultimately, M won’t be the only MI6 character to be returning, either.

Naomie Harris as Moneypenny

Miss Moneypenny is an iconic Bond character. In Daniel Craig’s version, she’s been given the first name Eve and has been played by Naomie Harris since 2012.

Her version was given some backstory in which she was once a field agent. She messes up royally in Skyfall during a mission in Istanbul and later is given desk work, but has occasionally taken on field work since. When last we saw her she was back in the office, so we’ll have to wait and see where Bond 25 goes, particularly given the flick is shooting in Jamaica.

Lea Seydoux as Madeleine Swann

Madeleine Swann, or rather Dr. Madeleine Swann, is the daughter of Mr. White, a member of SPECTRE. She had grown up resenting her father for his criminal dealings and it was those dealings that led James Bond to her.

She first pops up in – you likely guessed it – Spectre, and although she shares some “moments” with Bond, she has said in interviews that she doesn’t really feel like a stereotypical Bond girl. This is likely one of the reasons she’ll be back for another round.

Ben Whishaw as Q

Q and Daniel Craig’s Bond meeting for the first time is a highlight of Skyfall as the older British Agent realizes he will be dealing with a veritable youngster as his new quartermaster.

These days, Whishaw is nearing 40 (!) and is very much a major part of the Bond franchise popping in to confirm pieces of information and more. He’ll be a welcome face when he comes back for Bond 25.

Rory Kinnear as Tanner

Rory Kinnear’s big claim to fame in this franchise is playing the youngest version of Bill Tanner to exist.

Tanner is M’s Chief of Staff and Kinnear’s version first popped up in Quantum of Solace. These days, Bill Tanner is a regular fixture in Bond films, or at least this iteration of Bond films.

Dali Benssalah

A French actor known for the Nox miniseries and Interrail, Dali Benssalah was confirmed to be joining the franchise during a recent press event for Bond 25.

We currently do not have details on who the actor will be playing.

Ana De Armas

Like Dali Benssalah, Ana De Armas will be a newcomer in the Bond universe. The Cuban actress has been an actress for the past decade, more recently appearing in Hollywood movie projects like Blade Runner 2049 and War Dogs. She’ll next pop up in Danny Boyle’s highly-anticipated Yesterday and Daniel Craig's upcoming flick Knives Out.

In Bond 25 she looks as if she's set to appear as a Bond girl. More details to come.

Lashana Lynch

Captain Marvel’s Lashana Lynch is also joining Bond 25.

We don’t know who she will be playing, but jumping from Marvel to Bond is not a bad franchise hop.

Billy Magnussen

Game Night’s Billy Magnussen hops genres and projects all the time. He’s done comedy, as evidenced. He’s also played princes in the likes of Into The Woods and the upcoming Aladdin and he’s been involved in plenty of TV projects from Black Mirror to Tell Me A Story.

Now, he’ll be joining Bond 25. My vote is as a henchman. He just looks henchman-esque. We’ll have to wait and see though.

David Dencik

Our final entry so far is David Dencik, a Swedish actor known for The Snowman and TV’s Rig 45 and Quicksand.

He’ll be joining Bond 25 in a currently unnamed role.

As for rumors about Bond 25, there have been some suggestions the movie will also bring back returning characters like Blofeld back to wrap up this era of 007. We’ll be sure to confirm as soon as Barbara Broccoli and the studio does. For now please put this one squarely in the rumor mill.

Bond 25, which by then should have a title, will officially hit theaters on April 8, 2020. For now, take a look at what is heading to theaters with our full movies release date schedule.

How The Curse of La Llorona Is Connected To The Conjuring Universe

How The Curse of La Llorona Is Connected To The Conjuring Universe

Very mild spoilers ahead from The Curse of La Llorona.

The Curse of La Llorona hasn't been heavily promoted as a Conjuring movie, but it is quietly haunting The Conjuring Universe as the sixth entry in the series. The horror film marks the directorial debut of Michael Chaves, whose follow-up film is The Conjuring 3, which comes out in 2020.

The Curse of La Llorona recently screened at South by Southwest, confirming how the movie connects to the Conjuring universe. The movie is set in Los Angeles in 1973, and has the connective tissue of Father Perez (Tony Amendola), who returns to the story from Annabelle. In this film, Father Perez talks to Anna Garcia (Linda Cardellini) about his evil doll case, and the doll is flashed on screen to further drive home the connection (per Bloody Disgusting).

The 2014 Annabelle movie was also set in Southern California, with the story in 1967. The Conjuring, which came out in 2013, was set in 1971. The Conjuring 2 was set in 1976 and 1977. So The Curse of La Llorona appears to fit into the timeline between between the first two Conjuring movies, just a few years after Father Perez's experience in Annabelle.

Since The Curse of La Llorona just screened, critics and fans have been sharing their early thoughts online. CinemaBlend's own Sean O'Connell felt the film compared poorly to previous Conjuring movies, although he had fond words for Linda Cardellini:

Perri Nemiroff of Collider also had some measured praise, calling it a solid start for future Conjuring 3 director Michael Chaves:

Erik Davis of Fandango had a much simpler warning about the movie -- it may leave you afraid to visit your own attic:

The Curse of La Llorona was produced by James Wan, who directed the first two Conjuring films before passing the reins to Michael Chaves for the upcoming third movie. This is the sixth film in The Conjuring Universe after The Conjuring, Annabelle, The Conjuring 2, Annabelle: Creation, and The Nun. It precedes Annabelle 3, aka Annabelle Comes Home, which just announced its title and June 28, 2019 release date. The Conjuring 3 is reportedly scheduled for September 11, 2020. The Crooked Man should be following them at some point, but there's no set date right now.

The Curse of La Llorona opens in theaters on April 19, yep one week before Avengers: Endgame. Pray for it. The horror movie is just one of the many films releasing in theaters in 2019.

How Much Money Us Is Expected To Make During Its Opening Weekend

How Much Money Us Is Expected To Make During Its Opening Weekend

It looks like the shapeshifters will hand the baton off to the doppelgängers at the box office this weekend, as the MCU’s smash hit Captain Marvel makes way for Jordan Peele’s horror film, Us. Jordan Peele’s debut film Get Out wound up becoming wildly profitable, earning over $250 million on a $4.5 million budget. And although it is far too early to tell if Us will enjoy similar success, it does look like it will get off to a strong start opening weekend.

The horror movie from Universal and Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw productions is tracking to open in a wide range from $38 million to $48 million according to The Hollywood Reporter. There is even a belief among some box office analysts that Us could reach or crack the $50 million mark this weekend.

Based on this tracking, things are looking good that Us will come in first at the box office, beating out Captain Marvel in its third weekend in release. Even at the low end, a $38 million opening bow would improve on Get Out’s $33.4 million domestic debut in 2017. Us cost more than Get Out though at $20 million, but it still looks poised for box office success.

These predictions are up from the earlier tracking that had the film landing between $35 million and $40 million. Those numbers came in before the Us' buzzy premiere at the South By Southwest Film Festival and before the positive reviews started coming out. Now it's the week of the release and the buzz has increased and the opening weekend box office tracking seems to reflect that.

Other than Captain Marvel, which has been in theaters for a couple of weeks now, Us will not have any major competition this weekend; no other studio putting out a wide release opposite the follow-up to Jordan Peele’s box office hit, Get Out.

If Us manages to go as high as $50 million this weekend, it will be a feat similar to what A Quiet Place managed last year. John Krasinski’s film too had a buzzy SXSW premiere and opened in early April to $50 million. Like A Quiet Place and Get Out, Us will also likely benefit from positive word of mouth.

The reviews are in for the film and they are very positive, indicating that Jordan Peele has once again delivered. Only this time, it is a true horror film, yet one that still give you plenty to think about once you leave the theater. As the kind of film that is likely to inspire discussion, it may drive people to the theater to participate and perhaps even have repeat viewings, as star Winston Duke has recommended.

Us opens on March 22. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see all the other movies you should have your eyes on this year.

E.L. James Actually Started Writing The Mister Before Fifty Shades Of Grey

E.L. James Actually Started Writing The Mister Before Fifty Shades Of Grey

Apparently, E.L. James had been working on romance projects for a long time before she published her Fifty Shades books. The prominent author and movie producer recently revealed that her new book The Mister could have been her first book if things had panned out differently. She revealed how long she’d been writing The Mister, noting,

This story has been with me for a very long time. I wrote a very rough draft of it in 2009, so it’s actually been with me before Fifty. And I’ve been trying to silence these characters in my head for a long time. Eventually I managed to get them onto the page.

Anyone familiar with Fifty Shades of Grey should already know E.L. James first novel started out as Twilight fan fiction and then branched out to become the tale of Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey fans worldwide know and love today. The first Fifty Shades book was first published back in 2011 and James has previously mentioned it took her 18 months to write the trilogy.

Before E.L. James decided she needed a more erotic version of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen in her life, she had started treatment on The Mister. This makes sense, given in real life E.L. James is British and a European tale about an Earl falling in love with his housekeeper is more on brand than a story set in the Northwestern part of the United States.

Per what E.L. James told AZ Central, the idea came about when she was thinking about what would happen if a man were to fall in love with his cleaner. However, there were a lot of stops and starts until that germ of an idea could become even a rough draft for a book. Then, of course, there was the distraction of writing and working on the movies for her Fifty Shades series.

Finally, last March, The Mister started falling into place. Per the author:

I had the rough draft I’d written, but I didn’t really understand the characters at all. And then over the years they’ve slowly crystallized. But with Alessia, I had to go to Albania to get a better idea of what she is like and where she’s from and all of that, because it’s actually very difficult to find information about Albania. So, I went last March and everything sort of fell into place, and I was able to finish the book.

Ultimately, The Mister seems to be selling well so far. It sold more than 50,000 copies in its first week on shelves, and allegedly there are some interested parties sniffing around a movie deal.

However, had The Mister come out before Fifty Shades of Grey, it’s hard telling whether or not it would have attracted such a large following of loyal readers.

So, if you are someone who subscribes to the idea that everything happens for a reason, perhaps it was extremely fortuitous that E.L. James got stuck on an early draft of The Mister and was able to return to the idea later.

You can order your own copy of The Mister, which does have a Fifty Shades Easter egg, right now.

Meg Ryan Helped Come Up With Her Infamous When Harry Met Sally Orgasm Scene

Meg Ryan Helped Come Up With Her Infamous When Harry Met Sally Orgasm Scene

When Harry Met Sally’s restaurant orgasm scene is iconic, both within the context of the history of film and also Meg Ryan’s career. Now, 30 years after the release of the rom-com starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, the movie is going to be celebrated with galas and even a Fathom Event.

If you can’t make those, however, the cast and director Rob Reiner recently joined together to talk about the iconic film, noting that now-infamous orgasm scene was partially a concoction of Meg Ryan's. According to Rob Reiner,

Meg was the one who said, ‘I’ll do it. I’ll actually do it.' The idea was we gotta have something that men don’t know about women because earlier where they’re in the plane together and Billy talked about after sex how a man feels and all that, and we were saying we need a counterpoint, and Meg said, ‘I’ll do it, I’ll just actually act it out. We don’t have to talk about it. I’ll do it.’ And I had the idea, ‘[It’ll be] in a restaurant!'

So, the orgasm scene in and of itself wasn’t Meg Ryan’s idea, but putting that scene in a very public place was chalked up to her influence, per the When Harry Met Sally director.

Previously, Bill Crystal told a similar story in which Meg Ryan had contributed the idea of the fake orgasm after Nora Ephron had mentioned women did this in real life. In his version however, the idea to do a fake orgasm was Ryan’s and the idea to do it in a restaurant was his.

Whatever the exact truth, it’s clear the When Harry Met Sally scene was pretty collaborative. Which may be one of the reasons it works so well in the final edit of the movie.

Rob Reiner went on to tell EW that wasn’t the only portion of the scene Meg Ryan contributed, however. After it was determined Meg Ryan would fake her orgasm opposite Billy Crystal at a restaurant, she had another brilliant idea...

She does a little thing at the end, which I didn’t tell her to do, she has a full-on orgasm and then she goes right back and she takes a little bite of coleslaw.

It’s a classic movie moment. Many of the people in the restaurant have turned around to stare at Sally while she has her orgasmic moment, when suddenly she stops and all is back to normal. She takes a bit of her coleslaw while Harry gives her a look.

Related: When Harry Met Sally Almost Had A Super Depressing Ending

Afterwards an extra –who we know was actually Rob Reiner’s own mother – utters a famous movie line: “I’ll have what she’s having.”

Since I’m sure you’d like to relive the “I’ll have what she’s having moment, you can watch the full scene below.

However it came about exactly, the orgasm scene is so notable, Meg Ryan’s son Jack Quaid learned about it young and purposefully waited until he was in his twenties to actually watch the scene. Because who wants to watch their mom having a fake orgasm, am I right?

For the record, if you think it’s weird he watched it at all, he says it was in preparation for a rom-com role.

Thirty years after it was first put to film, When Harry Met Sally is still thought of as one of the most iconic rom-coms created for the big screen. Whether it will live on in the minds of movie lovers for the next 30 years remains to be seen, but for now you can catch it on Blu-ray, DVD or Digital or wait for the Fathom Event this winter.