Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • ‘The Batman’ Surprises With Strong Sunday With a $134M Opening Weekend

    ‘The Batman’ Surprises With Strong Sunday With a $134M Opening Weekend

    Never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth, as The Batman‘s final numbers have found their way online and surprised many with the film’s Sunday dropping by 21% from Saturday, which is way lower than its initial 35% estimate. As such, it pulled in $34M and now stands at a strong $134M opening weekend rather than the initially reported $128M.

    These numbers further solidify The Batman as Warner Bros.’ strongest opening since the pandemic started, and is Matt Reeves‘ biggest opening for any of his releases. The big question remains just how strong its legs are going to be, especially with the confirmed April release on HBO Max. Their 45-release window strategy will open up some new challenges but could set the standard for the future of cinema.

    Still, a 10% drop from the expectations is quite astonishing, and that is for a very genre-defining take on a superhero film. Batman is a very popular character, but it seems like a sign that people were waiting for this kind of film to offer something unique. It seems that even the almost three-hour runtime wasn’t going to scare anyone off, and it’ll be interesting to see how strong its second weekend might be.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘The Batman’s HBO Max Release Confirmed for April

    ‘The Batman’s HBO Max Release Confirmed for April

    We’ve entered a new age where film release windows will be quite a bit shorter than they were in the past. While Warner Bros. is moving away from the day-and-date simultaneous release model, they still are working with a new 45-day release window moving forward. One of the first affected by it is The Batman, which had many wonders when they might expect it to release on HBO Max exactly. Luckily, WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar has outright confirmed its exact release date on Vox’s Recode podcast. In it, he confirmed that it will release on April 19th on the service.

    Think about when movies would show up on HBO, which is eight to nine months after theatrical premiere. The Batman is going to show up on day 46 on HBO Max.

    Jason Kilar

    It’s not going to be the only film to release within this schedule, as Kilar further highlighted that it’ll affect other big DC tentpole releases, such as Black Adam, and The Flash.

    I feel really, really good knowing that The Batman, and Black Adam, and The Flash, and Elvis, and a whole host of other movies, are literally going to be showing up on day 46 on HBO Max in a variety of territories all over the world. That is a very, very big change that I don’t think people appreciate, and I feel really good about it.

    Jason Kilar

    It’s uncertain how this might affect the film’s box office, as quite a few releases tend to make a lot during their runtime. Yet, the pandemic has shown that the latest release doesn’t truly impact the films too strongly, but it also depends on whatever the release is. It still seems like a possible $1 billion might be in its future, but we’ll see what happens once it releases digitally.

    Source: Vox’s Recode via IGN

  • ‘The Batman’ Concept Art Offers Closer Look at Gotham City

    ‘The Batman’ Concept Art Offers Closer Look at Gotham City

    The Batman has finally been released in theaters, and it may have given us the most atmospheric take of Batman and Gotham City on the silver screen. Luckily, it seems that artist Jaime Jones has shared some of his work that helped set the design for Matt Reeves‘ take on the iconic city alongside designer James Chinlund. The designs are great, and you can see a lot of the influences that would find their way into the final product. I do wish we got a shot of Batman hanging above a misty Gotham like the first image, but there’s always the potential sequel to further explore different corners of the city.

    This new take on the iconic Caped Crusader has opened up many new avenues to explore, especially with its unique take on the character and its world. Here’s hoping that we get many more atmospheric shots as we explore more of Gotham City in potential sequels and the spinoffs. While we got a good look at the city, it does feel like we’ve only scratched the surface, especially with the tease of an Arkham Asylum spinoff in development.

    Source: Twitter

  • Barry Jenkins Teases His Upcoming ‘The Lion King’ Prequel

    Barry Jenkins Teases His Upcoming ‘The Lion King’ Prequel

    It’s still strange to think just how popular the live-action remake of the original Disney classic, The Lion King, ended up being. It was quite the box office success, and they quickly fast-tracked a prequel series focusing on Mufasa’s upbringing into becoming the iconic king that we see in the film. We haven’t heard much since Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Aaron Pierre joined the cast of Barry Jenkins‘ film. Luckily, Variety got a chance to interview the director, who gave a few teases on the film.

    There were hints that Nicholas Britell has joined the production back in December, but luckily Jenkins not only confirmed his involvement but also that they are trying to build upon what Hans Zimmer established with the previous entry. While they are big shoes to fill, Jenkins is quite confident they can do so.

    Nicholas Britell’s gonna do his thing. He always does it well. There’s a whole legacy of music that Hans [Zimmer] created that we’re gonna live up to

    Barry Jenkins

    That is not all, as he does continue to tease the film’s place as a prequel and offers a glimpse of what the direction will be for the upcoming film. It looks like we’re definitely going to explore the early days of Mufasa and what made him the king we remember.

    Kings aren’t just born, they aren’t just made. They have to become who they are.

    Barry Jenkins

    It’s not a lot to go by, but it does further hint that we’re definitely in for more of what we saw from Jon Favreau‘s film. Jenkins seems quite excited about the project and how it’ll push him as a filmmaker. The effects were groundbreaking for when the last film was released, and we’ll see how this sequel might try to push it even further.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘The Batman’s Matt Reeves Teases Horror-Themed Arkham Asylum Spinoff Series

    ‘The Batman’s Matt Reeves Teases Horror-Themed Arkham Asylum Spinoff Series

    The Batman is just the beginning of a brighter future for a new cinematic universe primarily focused on the Caped Crusader and his colorful cast of supporting characters. One of the first confirmed projects was one focused on Gotham P.D. but we did hear rumors that it may have gotten a new focus. It seemed like the project was going to explore Arkham Asylum rather than the usual police storyline. We only had the project name to go by at the time, but director Matt Reeves has finally confirmed the new direction.

    The GCDP thing, that story has story has kinda evolved. We’ve actually now [moved] more into the realm of exactly what would happen in the world of Arkham as it relates coming off of our movie, and some of the characters… almost leaning into the idea of… it’s like a horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham.

    Matt Reeves

    The horror themes seem quite promising, especially if they fully embrace the insanity that is Arkham in the comics. That is not all, as the director has also teased the direction the project will go and hinted that we might get a bit more from his rogue’s gallery in the series.

    The idea, again the way that Gotham is a character in the movie, I really want Arkham to exist as a character. You go into this environment and encounter these characters in a way that feels really fresh. And so in our work on Gotham, that story started to evolve, and it started feeling [like], ‘Wait, we should really lean into this.’ And then that’s kinda where that’s gone

    Matt Reeves

    There were teases of Batman’s first year has already introduced some familiar villains into this universe, and it’s unclear if these series will all build up into a united storyline, or if they are all acting as separate projects to further explore the universe that this version of the Dark Knight lives in. No matter what direction Reeves‘ vision might be heading towards, the film already gave us a promising starting point and hopefully we’ll find out sooner rather than later when we might expect the new series.

    Source: Cyber Nerds via The Direct

  • Robert Pattinson Interested in Joining Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ Sequel

    Robert Pattinson Interested in Joining Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’ Sequel

    Robert Pattinson has been vocally interested in his excitement to expand The Batman as a franchise. While he mainly talked about turning it into a trilogy, it seems that he’s gotten a taste for blockbuster releases with his recent work in them. In an interview with Variety, the actor has revealed that he’s also actively interested in appearing in a sequel for Denis Villeneuve‘s Dune.

    I love those “Apes” movies so much. There’s only been two movies — well, three now — where I wanted to do a sequel: the “Apes” movies, “Sicario” and “Dune.” I saw both of the “Apes” movies in the cinema and I just thought what he could do with mo-cap was just so unbelievable. If he could do that with a monkey’s face, then he can get a performance out of me as well.

    Robert Pattinson

    After the success of the first entry, Villeneuve‘s space opera and desert planet epic were fast-tracked for a sequel, as the director already mapped out the trilogy he wants to tell. After an interview with the director hit the web that he may already be eyeing to add Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen into the sequel. As such, he may be a potential role for Pattinson if they are already busy casting. We only have the confirmation that the original cast will return. So, we might get some hints later this year as they prepare for production.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘The Boys’ Pays Tribute to ‘The Batman’ With New Character Posters

    ‘The Boys’ Pays Tribute to ‘The Batman’ With New Character Posters

    Here’s a cute little gag from the team over at The Boys. As the show heavily deals with a group of normal people taking on corrupted superheroes, the release of The Batman seemed like a perfect time for some cheeky cross-promotion. As such, their marketing team seemingly whipped up a few character posters that are heavily inspired by the DC character’s long history in cinemas. The Female gets the most recent adaptation based on The Batman while Mother’s Milk gets the 1989 treatment. You can check out the clever posters right here:

    It’s a clever idea to not only promote the upcoming season but also pay tribute to the recent release. A little disappointed they didn’t do this with other superhero films that have been released since the series started, but perhaps it gave them a taste for the idea and we’ll see more in the future. There’s still no new trailer for the upcoming season, as most of the attention has gone to the animated spinoff Diabolical. That might get some screentime for another few weeks before we get a new look at what’s to come. We’ve already had quite a lot teased with some heavy promotion of new characters. So, we’ll see if Homelander is about to give the spotlight to someone else soon.

    Source: Instagram

  • A New Twitter Account for Disney+’s ‘Andor’ Has Been Spotted

    A New Twitter Account for Disney+’s ‘Andor’ Has Been Spotted

    It looks like Lucasfilm is ramping up for something, as another private Twitter account has been noticed online. Just last week, fans have noticed that an Obi-Wan Kenobi account was created, which added some heat to marketing plans already being prepared for an eventual reveal. So far, we only got the poster for the series that releases in late May, and now it seems that another Star Wars series got a private account, the Rogue One spinoff, Andor.

    Unlike the previous Disney+ series, this one still has no release date or any promotional material surrounding it. It even was left out the Disney+ Day announcements for some reason. Andor has been highly anticipated for it to tell the stories before the character of Diego Luna‘s Cassian Andor would meet up with Jyn Erso. The new account has been discovered by @bigscreenleaks, who shared the screenshot for the Twitter account also confirming it was likely created in February alongside the Obi-Wan Kenobi one.

    https://twitter.com/bigscreenleaks/status/1500165238372642817

    While we still didn’t get a trailer as initially expected, there’s a good chance that they are preparing everything for May 4th, which is when Lucasfilm generally celebrates all things Star Wars. Currently, most of their focus has been on promoting the Starcruiser attraction, even if it’s a shame on how little they promote their biggest IP, especially considering how many projects are on the horizon. Here’s hoping that this spotting may further some hints that an announcement, release date, or at least a tease is on the horizon.

    Source: Twitter

  • UPDATE: ‘The Batman’ Eyeing a $120M+ Domestic Opening Weekend

    UPDATE: ‘The Batman’ Eyeing a $120M+ Domestic Opening Weekend

    UPDATE: It looks like there’s been an update on the numbers, as the final cume for Friday has arrived with $57M. While it’s only $2M higher than the previously reported number, it does bump The Batman to a potential $120M.

    Source: THR

    Just yesterday, we learned that The Batman took in around $21.6M in its Thursday previews. In total, the film has now made $55M if you include Friday’s box office numbers in the domestic market. As such, it’s definitely on its way to passing $110M over the weekend, but it’s still possible that it could go higher. As such, the film is now the sixth highest opener for March, just behind Alice in Wonderland‘s $116.1M. It’s a strong start for the 2022 box office and is now on its way to becoming the biggest performer for Warner Bros. with a theatrical release since 2019’s Joker, which opened with $96.2M.

    In the pandemic, the film will still fall short of Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s $121.9M but it’ll still take the second-best spot. As pointed out by Deadline, even with non-pandemic times it’s an incredible opening and worthy of praise especially given that the film is also one of the longest releases during these times. At this rate, it’s safe to say that Matt Reeves‘ first foray into Batman may already be on its way to join the $1 billion club by the end of its runtime. It’s only unclear how the 45-day theatrical window might hurt it in the long run.

    Source: Deadline

  • Paul Rudd Spotted in First ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Set Photos

    Paul Rudd Spotted in First ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Set Photos

    We’ve gotten quite a few set photos over the last few months. Most notably, DC’s upcoming HBO Max original film Batgirl has seen quite a bit leaked. On the Marvel side of things, it has calmed down quite a bit. That was until now, as first set photos of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania have surfaced online featuring Paul Rudd. As first noticed by @AntManNews, The Daily Mail has shared quite a few shots from the actor in civilian clothes walking around, while nothing “heroic” is happening in any of these scenes and we don’t get a look at his potential new costume, Lang has his usual goofy smile while buying some coffee.

    That is not all, as more set photos have found their way online that feature people noticing Scott Lang on his way to grabbing a coffee. After the events of Avengers: Endgame, he might have become somewhat of a celebrity. It also fits with him being featured in the Roger musical during Hawkeye. Of course, it also may have been a play on the fact that he was there as a result of time travel.

    It’s great to finally see something from the Ant-Man sequel, as it’s been surprisingly quiet. Peyton Reed initially shared a picture from the Volume teasing production start, but we’ve heard very little about the film. Kang the Conqueror is confirmed to make his debut–if you don’t count a Variant–and Bill Murray recently spoiled that he’s in the film as a villain. So, we’ll see if these set photos might be the first of many to head our way, as we also see the rest of the cast on set.

    Source: Daily Mail, Twitter