Murphy's Multiverse

Author: Joseph Aberl

  • RUMOR: ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ May Feature 2 Familiar Spider-Men

    RUMOR: ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ May Feature 2 Familiar Spider-Men

    Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse sadly got postponed into the next year, but it hasn’t lost any momentum in regards to what we can expect from the latest entry of the animated Spider-Man franchise. There have also been many theories that concepts like the Spider-Verse would simply open up the potential crossover with existing franchises from Sony’s hope to expand the license alongside their MCU counterpart.

    If a new rumor is to be believed, we may see at least two pre-established Spider-Men in the upcoming sequel. There seems to be an opportunity that the Marvel Cinematic Universe equivalent of Peter Parker will appear though it’s unclear if Tom Holland will actually voice the character. What makes this interesting is that this would mark the first time he appeared in a Sony-developed project rather than one from Marvel Studios.

    The other returning face might be the one we met in Insomniac’s Spider-Man gaming franchise. The character was famously voiced by Yuri Lowenthal though his face design got changed in the remaster and Miles Morales spinoff. Supoposedly there have been ideas thrown on the table of also including other returning characters. Not only Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire, but also former animation voice actors Josh Keaton and Christopher Daniel Barnes.

    They definitely would make for an interesting addition, especially if they might even offer Spider-Verse‘s Miles potentially entering live-action. There’s a lot of potential with this expansion and here’s hoping they make full use of it, as each universe also is set to be animated differently.

    Source: Cosmic Circus

  • ‘One Piece Film Red’ More Than Triples ‘Stampede’s Entire Domestic Box Office on Opening Day

    ‘One Piece Film Red’ More Than Triples ‘Stampede’s Entire Domestic Box Office on Opening Day

    It’s looking good for Black Adam to top the box office once again. The film is showing a bit more of its Dwayne Johnson-like hold after seeing some bigger drops throughout the week. As it stands, the film is likely to end its second weekend with $17M. The biggest advantage of this DC film lies in the fact that there’s no real competition so far and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is surely going to change that once it releases next weekend with an already impressive $175M+ opening weekend prediction.

    Hot on its heels is One Piece Film Red, which has finally been released stateside. It’s currently pulling in $10M+ from 2,410 locations. It’s pretty much performing as expected by Crunchyroll, its distributor but sadly it’s not going to pass Demon Slayer: Mugen Train‘s record which pulled in $21M domestically. Still, the film pulled in an A CinemaScore and had a 75% viewership between the ages of 18 to 34, which highlights an interesting trend.

    One should consider that this film is a spinoff storyline based around the latest events of a 1,000+ chapter manga series. As many believed only long-time readers would be drawn into the latest entry, One Piece might be drawing in a new generation of readers already. It should also be highlighted that Red pulled in 4.8M on Friday, which is more than three times what Stamped pulled in 2019. Not just it’s domestic opening but its entire run which was around 1.3M at the time. So, this is quite the win for a franchise that started in 1997.

    Source: THR, Twitter, Box Office Mojo

  • Namor Actor Couldn’t Swim Before Working on ‘Black Panther 2’

    Namor Actor Couldn’t Swim Before Working on ‘Black Panther 2’

    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will introduce the world to Marvel Cinematic Universe’s take on Atlantis in the form of Talocan. The Mayan-inspired take on the iconic underwater civilization is a promising direction for the mythology built around the character of Namor, who will be portrayed by Tenoch Huerta. Given that they are a civilization that exists beneath the ocean’s surface, the actors portraying the Talocan people had to do some shots underwater.

    During the official press conference for the film, the Namor actor revealed that he actually couldn’t swim before working on the film. The conversation came up when they started discussing who had the record of holding their breath the longest during filming, which led to the actor revealing he couldn’t swim before starting work on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. A surprising detail if you consider that he was going to tackle a role that would mostly see him underwater.

    Yeah, well I didn’t know how to swim before this movie. But now I can hold my breath for five minutes.

    Tenoch Huerta

    He does reveal that the record of holding their breath underwater is held by Namora actress Mabel Cadena, who seemingly can hold it for up to eight minutes. It definitely sounds like they had an interesting challenge with the production and it’s always interesting to learn details, such as the fact that the actor learned to swim and stay underwater for extended periods just to star in this role. It showcases how much work truly goes into bringing these roles to life for the silver screen.

  • Ryan Gosling’s ‘The Fall Guy’ Remake Adds ‘Wakanda Forever’ Star

    Ryan Gosling’s ‘The Fall Guy’ Remake Adds ‘Wakanda Forever’ Star

    It looks like David Leitch‘s upcoming film The Fall Guy has added one more big addition to its cast. M’Baku actor Winston Duke has seemingly joined the Universal film that adapts the 1980s television series for a new generation. Ryan Gosling is set to spearhead the project, which has also added Emily Blunt, Stephanie Hsu, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

    Unlike the original series, the script by Drew Pearce explores a stuntman past his prime, who ends up on a production with a star he once worked alongside. Yet, he suddenly disappears and unravels the story. The movie star in question will be portrayed by Taylor-Johnson with Duke set to play the best friend of the stuntman (Gosling).

    Blunt has been added to the cast as a prosthetic makeup artist that also seemingly had a romantic history with the stuntman. The plot definitely sounds interesting and is a bit of a departure from the original where the stuntman acted as a hitman on the side. So, we’ll see how much of the original still makes it into the remake and what director Leitch has in store to make it stand out from an action standpoint.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • REPORT: ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’ Directors and Episode Count Potentially Revealed

    REPORT: ‘Agatha: Coven of Chaos’ Directors and Episode Count Potentially Revealed

    While many wondered why WandaVision was getting a spinoff series focused on Kathryn Hahn‘s Agatha Harkness, recent news reports have showcased that there’s a lot more potential at play here. Agatha: Coven of Chaos just recently cast Aubrey Plaza in a villainous role and there are rumors floating on what may be the inspiration behind this series’ storyline. Now, Illuminerdi may have shared a few more details on the project.

    According to their latest report, the series will be a limited series running for nine episodes. There’s no word if that means it’ll be a half-hour show or Marvel Studios’ first time tackling a nine-episode drama. They also shared that Jac Schaeffer and Gandja Monteiro may direct at least one episode each.

    The project is definitely shaping up to be an interesting addition, and it’s been fun to see Marvel Studios use smaller characters to tell unique stories. It also gives them the opportunity to tell stories that otherwise wouldn’t get a chance to tell due to previous character decisions, such as how Armor Wars is now a War Machine-focused story rather than Tony Stark.

    Marvel Studios has years of stories they can tell in interesting ways. We now live in a timeline where Werewolf by Night got his own special exploring a new corner of this universe we may have not expected otherwise. Who knows what other characters might get an adaptation in the near future that we may not have expected?

    Source: Illuminerdi

  • PlayStation’s ‘Gran Turismo’ Movie Adds a Former Spice Girl to its Cast Among Many More

    PlayStation’s ‘Gran Turismo’ Movie Adds a Former Spice Girl to its Cast Among Many More

    Neil Blomkamp‘s upcoming Gran Turismo film has seemingly expanded its cast. In The Hollywood Reporter’s latest Heat Vision newsletter, it’s been shared that the PlayStation franchise adaptation has added a few more stars to its cast.

    Djimon Hounsou has been cast in the film alongside Naomi‘s Daniel Puig, Josha Stradowski, and Thomas Kretschman, who will appear in the next Indiana Jones entry. That’s not all, as former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell-Horner has also been cast. She will be playing the mother of Archie Madekwe‘s character with Hounsou set as the father.

    Puig is set to tackle the role of his brother with Stradowski set as the big rival for the film. So, it seems like most of the main cast has been set as the movie is already busy filming in Hungary. The story will follow a young teen getting the opportunity of a lifetime, as his gaming skills end up giving him the opportunity to become a professional racer.

    PlayStation has been very focused on establishing its core franchises beyond its gaming medium. So, while some projects are more straightforward by tackling the original game in a new format like The Last Of Us, Gran Turismo is taking a very different direction. It’ll stand out by exploring this true story of Jann Mardenborough to showcase what gaming can do for people.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Quentin Tarantino on Whether He’d Direct a Movie for Marvel Studios

    Quentin Tarantino on Whether He’d Direct a Movie for Marvel Studios

    Quentin Tarantino is a well-established director that has made some fun films throughout his filmography. Each one seemingly pays tribute to a different style of filmmaking and even goes as far as combining multiple genres into one. He was supposedly going to explore a more mainstream project with Star Trek before passing on it. Now, L.A. Times got a chance to sit down with the director and asked if he’d ever want to direct a Marvel film, which led to him giving the following response:

    You have to be a hired hand to do those thing. I’m not a hired hand. I’m not looking for a job.

    Quentin Tarantino

    One can take away a lot of what he’s described. Some may take this as a downplay of the artistic freedom given by Marvel Studios, or also just say the directors of these projects are nothing more than a cog in the machine. Tarantino wanted to adapt a Luke Cage film in the 90s, but that project never came to be. Of course, that is a very different climate from where Marvel Studios stands today. He also isn’t someone who doesn’t enjoy mainstream blockbusters, as he even highlighted his experience with Star Wars.

    Of course, I liked ‘Star Wars.’ What’s not to like? But I remember — and this is not a ‘but’ in a negative way, but in a good way. The movie completely carried me along and I was just rocking and rolling with these characters…. When the lights came on, I felt like a million dollars. And I looked around and had this moment of recognition, thinking, ‘Wow! What a time at the movies

    Quentin Tarantino

    He also highlights that it’s just not his “favorite exactly type of film,” which highlights the beauty of cinema. There are many types of films available for viewers and everyone finds those that fit their mold better.

    Now, that’s not necessarily my favorite exact type of film. At the end of the day, I’m more of a ‘Close Encounters [of the Third Kind]’ guy, just the bigger idea and Spielberg setting out to make an epic for regular people, not just cinephiles. Few films had the kind of climax that ‘Close Encounters’ had. It blew audiences away

    Quentin Tarantino

    Tarantino‘s quote is less of a direct assault on Marvel and their filmography than other veteran directors have done in the past; Martin Scorcese‘s press tours becoming a renewed inquiry in regard to his thoughts on the film since the op-ed he released a while ago calling them “theme park” films. We’ll likely never hear the end of these quotes.

    Source: LA Times

  • Disney+ Italy Accidentally Leaks a ‘The Mandalorian’ Short Film Focused on Grogu

    Disney+ Italy Accidentally Leaks a ‘The Mandalorian’ Short Film Focused on Grogu

    Grogu or Baby Yoda as some still refer to the fictional character of The Mandalorian is seemingly getting his own little special later this month. As leaked by Disney+’s Italian account, it seems that on November 12th will see a new special titled Star Wars Zen: Grogu and Dust Bunnies released on the platform. It’s an interesting surprise, as we haven’t had a teaser of any kind of this new addition

    The tweet leaking this new special has been deleted by the official Disney+ account, but luckily Reddit user u/cefaluu got a screenshot of the tweet and shared it on the Star Wars Leaks Reddit. If this may have gone online too early, we may expect an official announcement either later today or potentially even to kick off next week. It’s unclear if this special is purely CG or even live-action.

    Italian Disney+ announced the short film "Grogu and the Dust Bunnies" for November 12
    byu/cefaluu inStarWarsLeaks

    Star Wars Zen is also an exciting title and could be their equivalent to Marvel Studios’ Special Presentation. The question is how long this project has been in development and how long it may be, especially if they aren’t promoting it at least a month in advance. Its timing may also be a little trinket to celebrate The Mandalorian‘s three-year anniversary as they usually have a new series released during the Holiday season. We’ll have to see what exactly this project might be once the first teaser finds its way online.

    Source: Reddit

  • David Zaslav Promises “Real Focus on Franchises” in Warner Bros. Discovery’s Future

    David Zaslav Promises “Real Focus on Franchises” in Warner Bros. Discovery’s Future

    Warner Bros. Discovery has been a big question mark in the industry at the moment, which has led to many questionable decisions. Originals from HBO Max were just pulled from the platform and not made available anywhere else, Batgirl and a Scoob! sequel was scrapped close before wrapping work on it. In the latest earning call, CEO David Zaslav gave a tease of where their future lies and it may raise a few flags. First off, he promises a “real focus on franchises” and highlights two major entries from their portfolio.

    We haven’t had a Superman movie in 13 years. We haven’t had a Harry Potter movie in 15 years. The DC movies and the Harry Potter movies provided a lot of profits to Warner Bros motion pictures over the last 25 years. House of the Dragon is a big example of that; Game of Thrones, taking advantage of Sex and the City. Lord of the Rings — we still have the right to do Lord of the Rings movies

    David Zaslav

    There’s some confusion about his quotes, as Man of Steel was released in 2013, which was nine years ago, and technically Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was a Superman-centric sequel, which was released in 2016. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was in theaters in 2011, which is eleven years ago, and technically we still got an entry in that Wizard World franchise with Fantastic Beats: The Secrets of Dumbledore this year. Not a very promising way to sell people on the belief in IP while not understanding how long it has been since they released.

    That isn’t all, as he also took his time to downplay the value gained by HBO Max and the use of original productions for the service. It seems that in his eyes, the viewership retention wasn’t strong enough on the streamer to justify its existence.

    We learned what doesn’t work. And this is what doesn’t work for us based on everything that we’ve seen: direct-to-streaming movies. So spending a billion dollars or collapsing a motion picture window into a streaming service. The movies that we launch in theater do significantly better, and launching a 2-hour, 40-minute movie direct to streaming has done nothing for HBO Max in terms of viewership, retention or love of the service.

    David Zaslav

    The quote does make you question the continued rise of investment in the market of streaming; Netflix even raised the budgets even higher due to the potential they see. The biggest comparison that may be the reason for this belief lies in the direct comparison to what Zaslav is used to, which is reality TV streaming. We might have apples to chainsaw type of comparison leading to the downplay of value gained from streaming originals.

    The entire library shouldn’t be on HBO Max and paid for by HBO Max. We have an extraordinary library: Friends, Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men — there’s 15 or 20 series that are loved and nourishing the audience on a regular basis. But then there’s a huge number of series and movies that aren’t being used at all. If none of it’s being used, why aren’t we putting it on an AVOD where it will be used? We looked at what people are watching on Pluto and Tubi: They’re loving Rawhide and Bonanza. They’re not watching old series like Dynasty on Max. There is a platform where people have an expectation and what they want to watch, and we’ve been able to get a real vision into what people are consuming and ultimately that gives us a roadmap.

    David Zaslav

    There are many discussions on archiving media that streaming opened the potential to finally establish a home for those looking to revisit movies and TV shows they loft. It’s ironic that their own streaming platform proved the potential of legacy projects, Game of Thrones viewership saw an increase once House of the Dragon was released; highlighting a potential synergy on a streaming service. WBD’s current pure KPI-based decision making may be pushing their company to be even more sterile than what people have accused others in the streaming market of being. He even makes an oxymoron remark that the “golden age” isn’t over but also hints at focusing on saving costs on investment, taking no more risks.

    Source: Deadline, Deadline

  • ‘Joker 2’ to Start Production Next Month

    ‘Joker 2’ to Start Production Next Month

    Warner Bros. Discovery has been slowly wrapping up the year with a new earnings call, where CEO David Zaslav offered some insight into recent developments from the company and what the future has in store. A big focus was set on the newly formed DC Studios and some of the projects that are set to appear in the coming years. Among them was the Joker sequel, Joker: Folie á Deux. Joaquin Phoenix once again returns to take on the role of Batman’s greatest villain in a standalone experience and it looks like production is set to start very soon.

    As revealed by Zaslav himself during the earnings call, the Joker sequel is set to start production next month. No exact start date has been shared but it seems that they are on course to get working on the project with director Todd Phillips also returning. The biggest addition is Lady Gaga, who is taking on this new universe’s take on Harley Quinn. Once she joined the project, the rumors of it acting as a musical gained traction and highlighted how this new take might differ from the previous entry.

    It’s definitely interesting that Joker of all films is getting a sequel just as Warner Bros. Discovery is trying to establish a connected DC Universe. Even Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe will still continue to evolve and it was hinted at being its own pocket universe. So, Zaslav is currently trying to get the best of both worlds rather than keeping a true focus. On the flip side, these distinct projects still happening is great for those that want to see more diverse stories from these iconic heroes. So, while it’s confusing if you consider WBD’s set goal, it seems we can still look forward to some unique projects.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter