Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • Tom Cruise Locks in First Warner Bros. Project with Director Alejandro Inarritu

    Tom Cruise Locks in First Warner Bros. Project with Director Alejandro Inarritu

    It was quite shocking when Tom Cruise suddenly shifted gears and signed a deal with Warner Bros. studios. After it’s been slowly burning bridges wherever it can with David Zaslav at the helm, he still saw some potential of working with the studio. Now, his first project is a lock as director Alejandro Iñárritu is set to make his first English-language film since The Revenant for WB and Legendary Entertainment with him starring in the project.

    There are still no details on what the film will be titled. Still, Iñárritu will be returning to work with Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris, and Nicolas Giacobone, whom he famously worked on Birdman almost a decade ago. It seems they are going out of their way to keep the latest original a big secret and Cruise has been rumored to be looking for a next role that could give him a chance to move away from his usual big action fair.

    Of course, Iñárritu is quite a powerhouse director after winning two straight Oscars with his last projects. It’s also not the first time he worked with some major names as he helped Leonardo DiCaprio finally win his first Oscar with The Revenant. So, it’ll definitely be interesting to see what these two worlds will offer viewers whenever they start rolling the cameras.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Becomes Most Watched Trailer of All Time within 24 Hours

    ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Becomes Most Watched Trailer of All Time within 24 Hours

    That did the trick. Deadpool & Wolverine has managed to break a major record this weekend. The first trailer for Ryan Reynolds‘ grand return to the franchise has been met with a warm welcome after its Super Bowl release. Within 24 hours, the trailer has become the most-watched trailer with 365M views. That is even higher than Sony and Marvel Studios’ major release during the pandemic in the form of Spider-Man: No Way Home (355M).

    The film is directed by Shawn Levy, who worked on various projects with Reynolds in the past. This film also marks the major return of Hugh Jackman in the iconic role of Wolverine. In a way, the trilogy has been building up to an eventual meeting and the set-up of the TVA arriving makes sense given the way he played around with time travel being a major part of the second entry.

    These views also further highlight the complicated discourse of “superhero fatigue” that has been making the rounds. We might be going through the same experience that we had with Phase 2 where the topic had gained traction before a return in the third phase. It’ll be interesting to see what this might mean for the box office and if this is a sign that it’ll manage similar numbers to what No Way Home managed.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ to Restart Production with Original Stunt Coordinator Returning

    ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ to Restart Production with Original Stunt Coordinator Returning

    Here’s a big move for the reboot of the Netflix Daredevil series. It seems that Marvel Studios is trying to push forward after the strong push that was their Echo binge release just a few weeks ago. We’ve known for some time that they are reworking their TV slate moving forward after learning quite a bit in their experimental phase, but as they restart production they are making one significant move.

    They have seemingly hired a familiar face for the production, as Philip Silvera is returning as stunt and fight coordinator. The stunt coordinator made quite a vocal statement when he wasn’t asked back not too long ago after defining many of the iconic fight sequences from the original Netflix series.

    He’ll also act as the project’s second unit director, further highlighting that they have embraced the Netflix originals now that they are official canon according to Disney+. Production is seemingly going to resume next Monday and they might be adjusting the episode count. They are moving away from the 18-episode model initially announced closer to what the Netflix shows did. If that means 10 or 13 episodes remains an open question.

    The release of Echo seems to have sparked quite a bit of interest in the classic series, as it had a halo effect that saw a massive increase for the classic Daredevil and Punisher series. Not just that, even Hawkeye got a major bump in viewership, which may be a telltale sign for Marvel Studios moving forward with their strategy. We might be seeing some old trends return as we did during Phase 2 and 3 of the franchise.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Star Trek’ Spinoff in Development, ‘Andor’ Director Attached

    ‘Star Trek’ Spinoff in Development, ‘Andor’ Director Attached

    It’s been some time since they first announced that they would be developing a final chapter in the main Star Trek cinematic franchise, which was started by J.J. Abrams. Originally, Matt Shakman was attached to direct but he went on to work on Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and is currently busy preparing to direct Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four film.

    While we still have no clear future for that entry, it does seem that Paramount is not going to rest with their franchise just ending as a new spinoff is in development. It seems it’ll take place in the same universe and sees Seth Grahame-Smith penning the script with Abrams‘ Bad Robot returning to produce. The big addition is that they also have a director attached to Andor’s Toby Haynes.

    The fourth Star Trek film is still in development and it is unclear how exactly these will connect, but it’s definitely an exciting announcement given the talent working on the project. Plus, there’s a chance they can explore the universe in a unique way given the long varied history of the franchise. Perhaps we’ll get a more intimate adaptation that returns to elements we haven’t seen in the franchise in quite some time.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Adds Key Characters to its Cast

    ‘The Last of Us’ Season 2 Adds Key Characters to its Cast

    The Last of Us is slowly preparing for its second season. The upcoming continuation of the iconic story will adapt The Last of Us Part 2. It’s still unclear if it’ll be a direct adaptation of the entire sequel or rather split up into multiple seasons given the story’s length. Still, the first two castings confirm that we’re not getting any unique take or original expansion, as the HBO show has found its Abby and Jesse.

    The big addition is Kaitlyn Dever, who will take on the challenging role of Abby. Besides the stellar emotional performance the role offers, a lot of weight comes with tackling this character due to reactions to the original game it’s adapting. Not to give away any major spoilers, but it will be interesting to get a feeling of how they tackle that scene in general.

    She’ll be joined by Young Mazino, who will take on the role of Jesse. While not the biggest role in the original story, he’s still an important recurring character. There’s still no news on how many from the original cast we can expect to return and if they’ll tackle the season the same way, but it’s great to see that things are getting moving on the second season. We’ll likely get a few major castings news in the weeks to come as they slowly start preparing for the production start.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline

  • Gerard Butler to Reprise His ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Role in Live-Action Adaptation

    Gerard Butler to Reprise His ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ Role in Live-Action Adaptation

    Universal is full steam ahead in bringing its iconic animated trilogy How To Train Your Dragon into live-action. And it seems like they got one major addition to the cast, who is quite familiar with the material. Gerard Butler will join the live-action adaptation as Hiccup’s father. This is not his first time playing the role, as he also voiced him in the animated films. He’ll join Mason Thames and Nico Parker, who are taking on the roles of Hiccup and Astrid in Dean DeBlois‘ film.

    Disney has become infamous for a live-action adaptation of their classic Disney properties, so there are some concerns about what Universal has planned with a live-action adaptation of their animated film from 2010. It is great though to see them bring back some familiar faces to once again play their characters and it has the original director involved, as Dean DeBlois also worked on the animated projects based on the 2003 book series.

    Butler’s return also opens up the question of how close they will try to stick to the original designs, or simply try to make the live-action its distinct project. They can re-use similar elements and the overall story, but they can still try to give it a more distinct visual identity to make it stand out. However, who knows if we might also see others from the animated film return in the live-action adaptation.

    Source: Deadline

  • Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Series May Be Preparing for Season 2

    Live-Action ‘One Piece’ Series May Be Preparing for Season 2

    Shortly after the writer’s strike came to an end, the writing staff for the second season of Netflix’s live-action One Piece series unveiled its writer’s team. There were hints that they may have started working on some of the episodes already ahead of the strike; hints even exist that they may have finished most of the drafts already. Yet, we have no exact timeline on when we could expect the second season to start getting the cameras rolling again.

    A new post from Nami actress Emily Rudd may have given us a hint on when we can expect production to start. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily give us a true timeline but it does seem that we can expect production on the second season to be earlier than initially expected next year. In a now-deleted Instagram story, Rudd shared a gift she received for the holidays with a highlight that it is for the “season 2 prep”.

    This alone doesn’t necessarily make a case that production is going to start up just as soon as the new year comes rolling in, but preparations are a hint that we’re definitely getting closer. Plus, it might be a better hint that some kind of casting news may be underway in the coming weeks to prepare us ahead of production.

    There’s also the hint from Brashaad Mayweather, the actor who played Patty in the first season sharing that he’s already hearing sets being built for next year’s filming. As such, they may already be getting ready to start as soon as they can and will likely require quite a few more out-there sets when compared to the first given the nature of the story that is going to be told and the many more islands they’ll explore.

    We’ll probably have to wait at least until later before we get an update, as we did get some casting announcements ahead of time before production started in January last year. Though, it’s also quite a bit different given that this is the second season of a recurring show that may handle things a bit differently. Still, here’s hoping that this is a sign that updates are just around the corner.

    Source: Twitter

  • Mahershala Ali Shares Motivating Update on Marvel Studios’ ‘Blade’

    Mahershala Ali Shares Motivating Update on Marvel Studios’ ‘Blade’

    It’s kind of crazy to think how long ago Mahershala Ali was announced as the iconic vampire hunter Blade. We all were quite excited to see the direction this take on the iconic character would take, especially with the potential of it being one of Marvel Studios’ first R-rated projects. Yet, we still are waiting for it to start filming after COVID delays and these strikes.

    Some even believed that Ali may have lost interest in the project given how long it took up until now to get the ball rolling. Luckily, it seems he’s still very much attached to the project as he reveals in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that they are still actively working on the project.

    We’re working on it. That’s the best I could tell you. I’m really encouraged with the direction of the project. I think we’ll be back at it relatively soon.

    Mahershala Ali

    In the same interview, he adds that he is “sincerely encouraged” regarding those involved in directing and writing the project since it went through several creatives since the initial announcement. We even had a director attached in Bassam Tariq who left the project at one point.

    I’m sincerely encouraged in terms of where things are at and who’s on board and who’s leading the way as far as the writing of the script and the directing and all that. So that’s the extent of what I can tell you.

    Mahershala Ali

    It’s definitely great news to hear that Blade is still happening (for now) and we’ll see if they might end up starting production sooner rather than later to hit that initially expected 2025 release date. For now, we still have to wait for the next update. Yann Demange is currently attached to direct and there hasn’t been a change in director so far.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly

  • Marvel Studios Head Promises They Won’t Revive Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man

    Marvel Studios Head Promises They Won’t Revive Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man

    In the multiverse, anything is possible. There have been many rumors that Marvel Studios has instantly tried to bring back its iconic Infinity Saga characters to undo whatever the internet has been complaining bout. As much as Phase 4 and 5 have been a bit more varied in their quality, there’s certainly something curious about the amount of rumors people still clamor around.

    In an interview with Vanity Fair, however, Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige has once again highlighted that they are not going to undo the big heartbreaking death of Tony Stark’s death in Avengers: Endgame. He gave the following statement that they won’t “magically undo it in any way.”

    We are going to keep that moment and not touch that moment again. We all worked very hard for many years to get to that, and we would never want to magically undo it in any way.

    Kevin Feige

    However, we should keep in mind that this doesn’t mean Robert Downey Jr. could still return in some form in the franchise. They could have him take on a different role and still appear in the multiverse franchise. The fact they haven’t used the actor since they started the multiverse storyline showcases that they are holding back and likely only reintroduce a version of him if it fits the story thematically.

    Source: Vanity Fair

  • ‘One Piece’ Overtakes ‘Ahsoka’ as Most In-Demand Series of Q3

    ‘One Piece’ Overtakes ‘Ahsoka’ as Most In-Demand Series of Q3

    Star Wars seems like it could dethrone any franchise even if Disney+ has fewer subscribers than the streaming giant that is Netflix. So, many different metrics can showcase the success of a project in this modern data-based world. It’s getting more and more difficult as people online swing wildly with analytics and data points to showcase just how big a project truly is or not. Still, there’s always something interesting that pops up now and then to tease just how big a new project might be in this streaming age.

    For Netflix, it seems they won the third quarter with their latest live-action anime adaptation; a far cry from where they were when Cowboy Bebop was released last year. The winner in Q3 according to an analysis from The Wrap is One Piece, which even managed to pull in a bigger interest in the US throughout its first 30 days in comparison to Ahsoka, The Boys spinoff Gen V, and the latest The Walking Dead spinoff.

    We know that the series was big enough to get a second season (and hopefully gets the opportunity to grow even more beyond given just how much there is to explore from the original manga series). However, seeing just how big the adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s iconic series has become in the States is a showcase of just how universal the storyline is. Hopefully, they will be able to move forward fast and start filming to avoid losing the audience’s interest due to long waits in between seasons. So, we’ll see how fast the franchise starts moving forward.

    Source: The Wrap