Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Takes ‘Avengers’ 10-Year Record at the Domestic Box Office, Passes $800M Worldwide

    ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Takes ‘Avengers’ 10-Year Record at the Domestic Box Office, Passes $800M Worldwide

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness may have faced a harsh drop in its second weekend, but it’s seemingly still holding on strong. The film is now the highest-grossing film for the third weekend in a row, as even the new Downton Abbey film not managing to take it down, as it ends the weekend with $18M, even with a strong A CinemaScore. It should be pointed out that Multiverse of Madness had a 50% drop in its second domestic weekend, which is far more common even after the initial drop, highlighting just how frontloaded those Thursday preview screenings were. It’ll wrap up the third weekend with around $30M.

    It should be noticed that this is the first time in 10 years that a film managed to hold on to the #1 spot over three weekends in May. The last one was 2012’s breakout hit, the first Avengers film. If you’re wondering why Avengers: Endgame doesn’t count, the film was released in April and was only two May weekends in the top spot before being dethroned in its third by John Wick Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Multiverse of Madness has held on to that spot since its release on May 5th.

    That is not all, as the film has now officially passed $800M at the worldwide box office, $803M to be precise, with some incredible holds internationally without some key markets, which probably would’ve pushed it towards a billion. At this rate, the film is likely to end its domestic box office just shy of $400M but should pass $900M worldwide.

    With this weekend, it has now also become the highest-grossing film of 2022 so far, as it dethroned The Batman. The DC film pulled in around $768M with a very strong $369M domestically, which saw some strongholds throughout its weekends. As of now, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness may not pass a billion but it certainly saw quite the increase for a sequel of 2016’s Doctor Strange and definitely can be considered a box office success for Marvel Studios.

    Source: Twitter, The Numbers, The Numbers (The Batman), Twitter, The Numbers

  • Deborah Chow on Tackling ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ as a Limited Series, Makes ‘Logan’ Comparison

    Deborah Chow on Tackling ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ as a Limited Series, Makes ‘Logan’ Comparison

    Obi-Wan Kenobi is the first Disney+ series to get marketed as a “limited series” while others, like Moon Knight, kept it vaguely open in case it got enough fanfare asking for more. While most of the series never really got an announcement, it was a nice surprise when it was confirmed as one. It looks like that was something head writer Deborah Chow also wanted to do with the project, as she wants to use this opportunity to further explore the character of Obi-Wan Kenobi and what he’s going through after the events of Revenge of the Sith. In the press conference, she talked about how this approach excited her for the Disney+ series.

    I was really excited of the idea to do a limited series for one. Just because you get to tell a bigger story, but you also get the time to really get into the character. I think first and foremost, I was the most excited about doing a character-driven story and really kind of having the opportunity to get more depth, and have more time to really get to know the character.

    Deborah Chow

    She also highlights films like Joker and Logan, which take the iconic characters out of the bigger franchises and further explores their place in that world. In a way, the series is closer to Logan which took a look at its main character suffering from the events that led to them losing everyone they cared about.

    In a similar way, it’s a different tone, but something like Joker and Logan. Where you take one character out of a big franchise and then you really have the time and you go a lot deeper with the character. That, to me, seemed really exciting to do in Star Wars.

    Deborah Chow

    There’s definitely something really interesting about taking a closer look at the character’s storylines without the weight of the entire franchise having to continue its story. The Mandalorian’s big draw was this isolated story within a galaxy far far away. perhaps this also opens up the possibility to explore other storylines from characters we’ve come to love over the years.

  • Ariana DeBose Offers Update on ‘Kraven the Hunter’

    Ariana DeBose Offers Update on ‘Kraven the Hunter’

    Hot off of her success with West Side Story, Ariana DeBose has joined her first major blockbuster production. While many Marvel fans were hoping to see her as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was Sony that ended up casting her first in the role of the voodoo priestess Calypso in their live-action Kraven the Hunter movie.

    Not much is known about how they’ll adapt her character into live-action, but she did offer a small update on how far the production is coming along in an interview with Deadline.

    It’s cool. It’s going well. I mean, for as much as I believe I’m allowed to say about it, I think it’s going swimmingly.

    Ariana DeBose

    She also talked about what it’s like being part of a franchise as large as Marvel, highlighting her excitement on being involved with the role but also what her focus is when taking a role, no matter what project it is.

    Yeah. I’m proud of them. I think all of these franchise pieces, it’s all about your growth. And it’s exciting to be a part of something that feels like it’s taking a step in a different direction. I feel like they’re just allowing this to live in whatever world it needs to live in, which is kind of cool. I don’t like work experiences, period, where I feel like I’m asked to fit a box, because my job is to discover the box and to define the box. That’s my job, in my opinion. I mean, it is 2022.

    Ariana DeBose

    As it’s another Spider-Man spinoff without the iconic wallcrawler, there are many questions on how they might adapt the character’s origin story and how it may fit into the overall world they are building. Morbius‘ post-credit sequence hinted at a potential Sinister Six team featuring a dimension traveling Vulture, but at this point, it’s difficult to say what the future has in store for Sony’s Marvel franchise.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ Trailer Seemingly Leaks Online

    ‘Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ Trailer Seemingly Leaks Online

    Here’s a rather surprising leak, as it seems that the trailer for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 has seemingly found its way online. Even as the film is eyeing a 2023 release, it seems that a two-minute trailer was found online and shared by Twitter user @AceyMainman. It’s quite curious that a high-quality version of this trailer found its way online, as it almost looks like a version that possibly was showcased during CinemaCon.

    https://twitter.com/AceyMainman/status/1528124222190460928?s=20&t=sH71ROxvGlyTfosulCU5cA

    The trailer is definitely showcasing the exciting action that we’ve come accustomed to with a Tom Cruise-led film, especially in the Mission: Impossible franchise. Christopher McQuarrie once again is taking the lead on the project. He has been directing the franchise since Rogue Nation back in 2015 and has a long history of working with Tom Cruise on various projects, including writing Edge of Tomorrow, Valkyrie, Jack Reacher, and even The Mummy.

    The film is now the seventh entry and will act as the first of two parts. Its leak would hint that they may be potentially releasing it at some point given the high quality, but it’s strange considering the film won’t release until July 2023. Its sequel won’t even hit theaters until June 2024, as there’s been a bit of an internal conflict between Cruise and Paramount. So, we’ll see what the future has in store but it does seem like they may want to bank on Tom Cruise‘s star power with the release of Top Gun: Maverick.

    Source: Twitter

  • George Miller Shares His Thoughts on Superhero Cinema and its Cinematic Future

    George Miller Shares His Thoughts on Superhero Cinema and its Cinematic Future

    It’s become a curious trend for journalists to ask veteran filmmakers about their opinions on superhero films. While some, most famously Martin Scorsese, downplayed their value to cinema and equated them to “theme park” rides, there have been others that also had some positive thoughts on the currently dominating genre.

    The trend continues as George Miller was asked the classic question while promoting 3000 Years of Longing during the press conference at Cannes. The question was in reference to a DC Comics inclusion that sparked the question on what he thought about the superhero films and their future.

    They endure and have endured anyway. The one thing you will be certain of is that they will change, they will morph into something else. Marvel and the DC Universe are basically the vestiges of the Greek and Norse and Roman mythologies. There’s a direct equivalence between each of those characters. We’re going through an era in which I think we’re expressing through moving image narrative these stories. They’re echoes of the past, but they’re adjusted to have meaning to us.

    George Miller

    There have been some that viewed comic book characters as the modern take on mythology with these larger-than-life characters. So, the comparison makes a lot of sense and we’re seeing an age where their focus moved from comics to moving pictures, and who knows what the future has in store for them.

    Tilda Swinton, who has appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the past, has also added to the discussion by highlighting that there needs to be a diversity of stories being told, which is something we’re finally seeing become more relevant with COVID slowing down.

    The thing that is dangerous about story is when you have only one story. It is possible when people cant hear any other stories that things really go down the tubes very, very fast and may close everything down. It’s keeping people’s ears open, keeping their ears curious to hear a new perspective, a new truth even,” she continued.

    Tilda Swinton

    Diversity in any medium is what makes it grow, something even Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has openly discussed in the past by highlighting his excitement for competition in the market. We’re seeing a new influx of smaller productions once again taking their stand in cinemas, especially with how well A24’s Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Northman, The Massive Weight of Unbearable Talent, and more.

    Other blockbuster franchises are also once again making a stand in the industry, such as Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World Dominion. One thing that is clear is that the growing number of films finding their way back is a healthy showcase for any franchise currently out there. COVID is still showing its fans, but there’s a positivity to be found in how

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers’ Writers Have Ideas for a Sequel

    ‘Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers’ Writers Have Ideas for a Sequel

    It’s hard to deny that Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers feels like a reboot no one expected. When the first trailers dropped, everyone was surprised to see the tribute to different animation styles, as well as the Who Framed Roger Rabbit approach with our favorite Rescue Ranger members turning out to be actors. If you’ve been hoping to potentially see a sequel from this film, it seems writers Doug Mand and Dan Gregor are certainly down, as “there’s a world here to explore.”

    We’re hoping that people really love [Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers] because we think that there’s a world here to explore. There are other things and characters that we can write about, we just kind of scratched the surface. We hope that people love it and we get a chance to continue to work in this world. Other than that, we continue to push forward in this industry as we look for interesting projects and try to create our own interesting projects whether in television or in film.

    Doug Mand

    It does make sense that in a world filled to the brim with animation stars from across the many studio’s backlog history, there’d be a lot of stories to tell. While Ugly Sonic’s return is welcomed with open arms, it doesn’t seem like non-Disney characters will get their own spotlight; unless this turns into the Kingdom Hearts of their animated Disney+ ventures. Still, there are many characters from their Saturday Morning Cartoon line-up that might be perfect to take a closer look at, like Darkwing Duck, just saying.

    Source: Discussing Film

  • ‘Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers’ Writers on How ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ Inspired the Disney+ Original

    ‘Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers’ Writers on How ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ Inspired the Disney+ Original

    Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers is definitely not a reboot that many are sued to, especially as Disney somehow brought this film to life on Disney+. It looks like the film’s screenwriters Doug Mand and Dan Gregor also have no idea how they got away with every random idea that came to mind. In an interview with Discussing Film, they got a chance to share how they approached the film, most notably, paying tribute to the classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

    We had this take on it and it’s definitely more meta, poking fun at the franchise and at the world of reboots. And to their credit, they were like, “Do it, we love it. Let’s go for it.” We wanted to do a send-up to Roger Rabbit. It was one of our favorite movies of all time and it’s been over 30 years since that movie was made. That’s how it really came about.

    Doug Mand

    Dan Gregor goes on to highlight that their entire premise was dependent on the idea that Chip and Dale were actors in Hollywood, to really draw in the Roger Rabbit comparisons. All focusing on a way to even defy the trope of self-awareness at the same time.

    Yeah, elemental to the concept of them being actors who played parts who now live in Hollywood, we felt like we really wanted it to be in-universe to Roger Rabbit. So it had to be a live-action/animation hybrid in a fun way. But again, that’s also one of those things that has become a bit of its own trope in movies. We wanted to be self-aware as to like, “Why another live-action/animation hybrid?”

    Dan Gregor

    When they presented their meta-take on what many would assume you’d get with a reboot, they expected the usual conservative Disney to not follow through. To their surprise, they went with it and even managed to give us the Disney+ Original that defies all expectations. Of course, it also helps that Roger Rabbit actually appears in the film as well.

    They gave us the green light to go write this kind of weird movie that went a little against the grain and we just wrote it thinking that they would never make it. We were writing this movie that we actually really do enjoy. We relate to these characters, we relate to this concept, this underlying story about a friendship that has gone through different phases and now these two people are living different lives. We loved it and we just didn’t think they actually would make it. But they did!

    Doug Mand

    Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers definitely brought the goods in a creative manner and it’ll be interesting to see if this film potentially also becomes a point of no return as Disney allows many of their properties to go a little weirder moving forward. While Marvel Studios seemingly has the most freedom due to their financial success, other properties have been a bit more focused on retreading old ground rather than innovating. With Rescue Ranger’s success, it could inspire a new era of reboots and remakes.

    Source: Discussing Film

  • Deborah Chow on ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’s “Biggest Challenge”

    Deborah Chow on ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’s “Biggest Challenge”

    There was a lot of excitement when it was announced that not only Ewan McGregor but also Hayden Christensen were making their grand return to a galaxy far far away with the next Disney+ Star Wars series, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Deborah Chow is tackling a challenging project by not only bridging two iconic trilogies but also exploring the complex relationship of two of the franchise’s most iconic characters.

    In the official press conference, head writer Deborah Chow talked about how having to bridge these two timelines of the Star Wars universe was “one of the biggest challenges” for the Disney+ series. She highlights the challenge of keeping the canon alive while still telling a unique story.

    I would say that was definitely one of the biggest challenges with the series. We have these huge legacy, iconic characters and we’re in between two trilogies. So, a large part, we’re telling a second act of a story which is often challenging enough. So, I think you know, the biggest thing we’re looking at is respect canon and we also need it to have an original story and original vision for it. That was the biggest challenge, but at the same time, it was very exciting that we were bringing back two of these huge iconic characters and telling new stories with them.

    Deborah Chow

    The biggest challenge will also be how they have to adhere to Star Wars Rebels, which included the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi to face off one last time against Darth Maul. There was a piece that theorized he was originally going to be the series’ main antagonist before it focused on Darth Vader, which Chow swiftly denied, however.

    We’ll see how the series potentially also connect elements from the prequels, like how the Clone Troopers became the Storm Troopers, as a way to give us more insight into how the Empire changed the galaxy through its regime. Of course, many also hope to see Palpatine make an appearance as well, to further showcase his influence over Vader before his son would set him free. Luckily, it’s not too long until we get to finally watch the Disney+ limited series as the first two episodes will stream on May 27th.

  • REPORT: EA Almost Sold to NBC Universal, Now Looking at Disney as New Buyer

    REPORT: EA Almost Sold to NBC Universal, Now Looking at Disney as New Buyer

    Mergers are all the rage right now. Not too long after Square-Enix sold off its entire Western division, it seems that EA also almost had a massive deal working in the background. In a new piece by Puck News, there was a time of EA and NBC Universal fusing before the deal fell apart in April. It seems the plan was by Comcast’s CEO Brian Roberts to create new IPs and brands and the Microsoft-Activision deal seemingly inspired Electronic Arts’ CEO, Andrew Wilson, to merge the company with NBCUniversal.

    Yet, they could not come to an agreement on the monetary aspect, and, as a result, the deal fell off. Yet, it seems EA is quite focused on getting sold with a new deal being potentially discussed with Disney. It seems they want “a more meaningful relationship than licensing deals” as stated by Puck News’ Dylan Byers. It seems that the main focus is also on unifying their major sports brands ESPN and EA Sports.

    The deal has not been made public as of now, and there’s no real specifics on how far the project has come. As of now, it seems they may only be considering Disney as a new buyer but an offer or deal isn’t on the table yet. Still, it would continue to shake up the gaming industry as mergers have become quite a bit more common as of late. Plus, Disney may be coy about adding more to their already extensive list. With the purchase of 20th Century Fox not too long ago, they may also not want to be in the hot seat again in expanding their enterprise with such a high investment.

    Source: Puck via Game Informer

  • ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ to Become A24’s Highest-Grossing Film Ever

    ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ to Become A24’s Highest-Grossing Film Ever

    I guess you could say that Everything Everywhere All At Once has pulled in every dollar every time all by now. The film has become A24’s highest-grossing film as it has unseated Uncut Gems from that very spot. It’ll end the weekend by taking in between $50M to $52M at the domestic box office. That will put it on its path to passing Lady Bird‘s $48.85M and Uncut Gem’s $50M by then.

    Adam Sandler‘s Uncut Gems by directing duo the Safdie Brothers made waves after taking the top spot after 13 weekends at the domestic box office. EEAAO, as many like to shorten it, will pass that record by taking the tops pot after only nine weekends. It’s currently eyeing a strong $3M and has also been one of the very few films to not drop at all going into its second weekend.

    The timing is also perfect, as A24 has enjoyed quite the event at Cannes Film Festival. It showcased its HBO Max series Irma Vep, Jesse Eisenberg‘s When You Finish Saving the World, Stars at Noon, God’s Creatures, and Alex Garland‘s Men. So, A24 definitely is living the high life at the moment and it’ll be interesting to see if their follow-up pieces can build upon that success in one way or another.

    Source: Deadline