Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • ‘Moon Knight’s Ethan Hawke on How Marvel Studios is Different From Other Studios

    ‘Moon Knight’s Ethan Hawke on How Marvel Studios is Different From Other Studios

    There’s been much debate on Marvel Studios’ relationship with its actors and directors given they run a tight ship. many believe that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is purely studio-driven, but there have been hints that the company has a very different dynamic with its talent than the industry standards might make you think. In an interview with Variety, Ethan Hawke shed further light on what it’s like working with the industry and how Marvel Studios sticks out.

    Every other experience I’ve ever had in film is generally that the more money they have, the more fearful the producing staff is. They really want you to do this cookie-cutter thing, do what we paid you to do, don’t have any ideas.

    Ethan Hawke

    He went on to compare the Disney-owned subsidiary like a kitchen and how it works with the many cooks in its kitchen.

    Marvel clearly has a good relationship with actors. The metaphor I like to use is, you have to cook in their kitchen and use their ingredients, but once you’re in the kitchen, and with their groceries, you can do whatever you want. So that was kind of fun.

    Ethan Hawke

    He also goes on to highlight that the studio isn’t “brittle and arrogant” as some others are. The company seemingly has supported the team behind Moon Knight to bring their vision to life.

    I was impressed. They have a tremendous confidence. A lot of people who are really successful, get brittle and arrogant. And wonderful people get confident, and they believe in others and instead of having power over people, they empower people. They really empowered Oscar, Mohamed, myself, May, other people working on the show to try to have a good time and try to make something that we cared about. Because they basically bet that if we liked it then other people would like it.

    Ethan Hawke

    It certainly sounds like the company is more focused on establishing a collaborative effort and hopes to empower creatives to bring their visions to life. The Disney+ series have highlighted that they are offering their teams more freedom as they’ve added more projects. Of course, the studio still has an active hand in the work such as the CEO Kevin Feige pitching some ideas while bringing projects to life. Movies and TV series are a collaborative effort. It looks like Marvel Studios tries to keep that alive somewhat.

    Source: Variety

  • Adil El Arbi Shares New Set Photo as ‘Batgirl’ Wraps Production

    Adil El Arbi Shares New Set Photo as ‘Batgirl’ Wraps Production

    Director Adil El Arbi has taken to his personal Instagram account to share that the HBO Max film Batgirl has wrapped up production. He alongside Billal Fallah took on the task to bring the famous super heroine to life, as Leslie Grace takes on the titular role. There are theories that it might not release until next year due to the delay of The Flash, which was set up to reintroduce Michael Keaton as Batman into the DC Extended Universe. Still, it’s great to see that they were able to wrap up production, and even shared a new look at Grace‘s costume.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/Cbz_D9jMQvn/?utm_medium=copy_link

    Batgirl will see the young heroine face off against Firefly, a popular Batman villain that is known for his love of arson. We know very little about the plot or even if other villains may have a role of some kind. It’s even more surprising given how many photos have found their way online from the production, especially during its stay in Glasgow. Of course, there are probably enough interior shots that were done that way to avoid any potential leaks.

    Grace will be joined by some veteran actors in their respective roles, most notably Michael Keaton that originally took on the role in Tim Burton‘s 1989 film. It’s uncertain if the film will build up his return through The Flash, but as it’s planned as a follow-up it can just skip to that part directly.

    Source: Instagram

  • ‘Morbius’ Opens to $5.7M in Thursday Previews, Eyeing a Potential $50M- Opening Weekend

    ‘Morbius’ Opens to $5.7M in Thursday Previews, Eyeing a Potential $50M- Opening Weekend

    Morbius is a curious case of a film constantly getting pushed back even after it originally eyeing a release in January of 2020. After all that, it was welcomed by some harsh reviews and opened up to a 15% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film has now seemingly still managed to pull in $5.7M on a Thursday, which is half of what Venom: Let There Be Carnage got last year. It’s not a great opening but with a $75M budget it’s still nothing to get worried about for Sony.

    Still, the weekend will be the ultimate test, as photos of seemingly empty theaters are making the rounds and hints that the latest blockbuster entry may lose its momentum quite fast. While at best it could score around $45M, it might be closing in on $35M by the end of its weekend run. Early predictions did have it at potentially breaking $50M opening weekend early on, which could still be possible if it somehow picks up in its second weekend.

    Sony wasn’t dumb and invested less into the picture knowing that Morbius isn’t a household name like Venom is. Most of its marketing put all its money on building up the connection to Spider-Man. We even got various hints at it either being part of the MCU, Maguire‘s universe or even the Amazing franchise. Yet, as director Daniel Espinosa openly leaked the post-credit sequences a week ahead of its release, it’s unclear if there are any expectations of the film moving forward.

    Source: Forbes, Box Office Pro

  • ‘The Mandalorian’ and ‘Loki’ Lead Disney+ Viewership

    ‘The Mandalorian’ and ‘Loki’ Lead Disney+ Viewership

    There’s been a lot of debate on just how well the various series perform on Disney+. While some might want to use it to argue on their personal favorite series leading the pack, but it’s also an indicator of what was the most popular production on the streaming app. While none of Disney+s original productions could compete with Star Wars or Marvel, The Hollywood Reporter and Nielsen offers a little insight into how they generally performed through an analysis based on viewing data for the streamer. As of now, it seems that The Mandalorian and Loki remain the best performing series on the site.

    Lazy loaded image

    Throughout their runtime, every entry of the six live-action shows across both major brands were in the top 10 each week they released a new episode. Yet, it is highlighted that they continuously made billion more minutes of view time spent afterwards. Even What if..? and Star Wars: The Bad Batch made appearances throughout with around two billion minutes of viewing time within seven weeks. The Mandalorian is yet the clear leader with 14.5 billion minutes watched throughout the year. However, 8.4 billion were alone from the time the second season made its debut.

    While the Marvel shows have yet to top the series that started Disney+, Loki managed to draw in 5.23 billion minutes of watch time. It even passed one billion in a single week, and is the only Marvel series to do so. On top of that, it had the highest average watch time for any series, even including Star Wars with 872M minutes per episode in its six week runtime. Falcon and the Winter Soldier actually ranked right behind it with 692M minutes per episode, but reaching 4.15B average. Hawkeye had a weaker run with 3.46B minutes watched during its viewing time.

    The biggest challenge will come for Marvel Studios introducing new characters to the franchise through Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel. All previous entries were built on existing characters but they are believed to have the potential to become next quarter’s biggest series alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi. We also have to keep in mind these aren’t direct numbers from Disney+, where they might have a very different picture. It strongly depends on what they base their success on that could reshuffle this order.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s Jim Carrey is “Fairly Serious” on Retiring Soon

    ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s Jim Carrey is “Fairly Serious” on Retiring Soon

    Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is finally finding its way to theaters and with a third entry already on the horizon, the franchise seems set in stone to further expand. Of course, there’s hope to keep actors involved as much as possible but it seems one of its big draws, Jim Carrey, might be considering retiring soon. In an interview with Access Hollywood, the actor talked about wanting Dr. Robotnik’s mustache to grow even bigger but also revealed that he’s “fairly serious” about retiring from acting.

    While he does say “probably” and that it depends on “if the angels bring some sort of script that’s written in gold ink that says to me it’s going to be really important for people to see” but then pointed out he’s going to take a break to focus on his art world. He highlights that he’s “done enough” and that is why he’s considering leaving this part of his life behind him for a more calmer experience.

    It would be a shame, as he has generally retreated from acting for some time. He’s also has a Netflix special on the horizon to honor the late and talented Bob Sagat, but it was a rather surprising reveal during the interview, especially as it was made after finding out Dolly Parton wants him to play Porter Wagoner in a biopic. If he goes through with it, it’s unclear if the newly established Sonic the Hedgehog franchise will move forward without Dr. Robotnik or potentially even recast him. Of course, they could also have him appear in smaller roles throughout to lessen the work load while still keeping him active in it.

    If you are interested, you can check out his interview with Access Hollywood right here:

    Source: Access Hollywood

  • ‘Moon Knight’s Place on the MCU Timeline Revealed

    ‘Moon Knight’s Place on the MCU Timeline Revealed

    The tradition continues that Disney+ has not only become the central hub for anything Marvel, a new tagline the advertising for the Netflix show’s additions have been strongly pushing, but also gives us a hint at where what project takes place across the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline. With the latest addition of Moon Knight, we once again can play the game on where exactly it fits within that very Sacred Timeline and it looks like the answer was quite simple.

    Just like Hawkeye before it, Moon Knight has been placed directly at the end of the timeline order. As such, it’s the newest addition to the ever-expanding franchise. So, the latest four entries also include Shang-Chi, and Eternals. Yet, we can very likely include Spider-Man: No Way Home around the same time as Hawkeye, as the series isn’t included due to Sony still holding on to the rights to that franchise.

    It would be great if they added some kind of fun visualization that highlights how some of the stories may even overlap on the timeline. Technically, Loki takes place across its entirety as the Time Variance Authority doesn’t necessarily adhere to the classic timeline rules. With the multiverse expanding, who knows if they might add other “Sagas” to the overview, as who knows what the future has in store for the MCU.

    Moon Knight still feels the most isolated of all projects. So, even if it has a timeline window it doesn’t necessarily have to fit that placement. Who knows if they might get a little creative in the future, as they shift some parts here or there to better fit the timeline if needed. For now, it only gives us some playroom to speculate, especially if there’s any crossover by the end of it.

    Source: Disney+

  • New ‘One Piece’ Set Photos Offer Best Look Yet at Going Merry’s Redesign

    New ‘One Piece’ Set Photos Offer Best Look Yet at Going Merry’s Redesign

    There’s always some kind of change we have to consider when translating a medium into another. It’s one of the reasons there were some nervous about the live-action adaptation of their favorite anime. Yet, it also opens up the possibility to expand or build upon new elements, especially in ambitious projects like Netflix’s One Piece adaptation. We’ve gotten a tease in the past from set photos that some classic designs will get adapted, and a new look at the Going Merry confirmed it.

    While the first ship to be revealed was a classically designed Going Merry, the Straw Hats classic ship. It was in the early days before they started production but a new look at the ship revealed some surprising changes, such as the goat figurehead seemingly screaming its way through the East Blue Saga. Some more set photos shared by @OP_Netflix_Fan has unveiled the best look yet and the Merry is definitely keeping its mouth open for the upcoming live-action adaptation.

    There’s a lot of added detail to the ship, especially with the side arms that connect to the ship. The head with a constantly open mouth is certainly a curious direction, but they also added some more realistic ears to the design. It would be funny to find out the inspiration for the ship head was a sheep that just constantly shouted at the builders. Still, it’s a different experience seeing it on the set and then in the series. So, we’ll see how it looks once it releases on Netflix.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Detroit’s Kathryn Bigelow Returns to Direct David Koepp’s ‘Aurora’ for Netflix

    ‘Detroit’s Kathryn Bigelow Returns to Direct David Koepp’s ‘Aurora’ for Netflix

    Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director has been on hiatus since her work on the 2017 drama Detroit. Now, she is set to make her return to tackle an adaptation of David Koepp‘s Aurora for Netflix. Koepp was the screenwriter behind countless blockbuster projects such as Mission: Impossible, Spider-Man, Jurassic Park and many more. He will also return to write the screenplay for this project, which sees Greg Shapiro and Gavin Polone in producing roles. They have worked with the writer for quite some time, and also have a history with Bigelow since her work on Stir of Echoes and Secret Windows.

    The story explores a solar storm that blackouts the entire world. In this hard time, a divorced mother tries to protect her kid and her estranged brother, who is a wealthy Sillicon Valley CEO. There’s no word if it’ll be a direct adaptation of the story’s themes of people living in a power crisis but it’s not uncommon for changes to happen in translation. The book won’t release until June 7th and has already received praise from Stephen King and screenwriter Scott Frank, the mind behind The Queen’s Gambit.

    Further details according to The Hollywood Reporter are that the deal happened over the weekend. It’s likely Bigelow‘s next project and has quite the budget, which is suspected to go beyond $100M. So, Netflix is once again jumping in with all they’ve got to make this project a reality. There’s no set release date currently.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘The Walking Dead’ Has Wrapped Its Final Episode After 11 Seasons

    ‘The Walking Dead’ Has Wrapped Its Final Episode After 11 Seasons

    It’s always bittersweet when a project comes to an end, especially if a team has been working on it for quite some time. After 12 years of production, The Walking Dead has official wrapped production on its final episode before AMC’s zombie-infested world expands into other projects. There are quite a few spinoffs already on the way, but it’s still crazy to think that the series that started in 2010 has gone on for that many seasons and managed to wrap up with its eleventh season.

    The official Twitter account has shared a tweet to highlight the ending of the journey with a look at its final clipboard alongside the cast. Even as sadly many have left the project over the years, each one left an imprint on the story of what was once a small group of survivors facing off against the zombies called the Walkers.

    They continued the tradition of keeping the comic inspiration as part of the clipboard. It’s also great to see the entire cast together on set one last time, as many will head out to tackle a brand new project. Of course, as many are veterans in the franchise they might also join the other productions, such as the Isle of the Dead series starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan. They also have an anthology series on the way that will include some familiar and new faces as well with The Tales of the Walking Dead. So, zombies aren’t going anywhere.

    Source: Twitter

  • Chris Pine on a Potential Return in ‘Wonder Woman 3’

    Chris Pine on a Potential Return in ‘Wonder Woman 3’

    In 2017, Patty Jenkins gave the world our first real full-fledged move all about Wonder Woman. Gal Gadot took on the titular role and her character would make her way to the world of man alongside Steve Trevor. Chris Pine took on the role of the World War 1 pilot that would fall for the Amazonian half-goddess. Sadly, their love ended in tragedy when he sacrificed himself. Yet, a misguided wish saw his return in the body of another even as she once again had to bid farewell. With a third film on the horizon, Pine was asked about a potential return in the upcoming third entry where he got a rather straight-forward.

    I think poor Steve is dead, but I wish them all the best on the third one.

    Chris Pine

    It makes sense, especially with Diana Prince making the step to finally letting go during Wonder Woman 1984. It would be step back for her character development to find a way for him to return, or even just him randomly popping up out of nowhere. Though, perhaps she gets one final goodbye in some kind of major crossover event that restarts the DCEU, or we explore a different dimension where he survived. But, Wonder Woman 3 will likely focus on closing out the story that started in 2017.

    Source: USA Today