Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • ‘Shazam’ Director Teases More is Possible in James Gunn’s New DCU

    ‘Shazam’ Director Teases More is Possible in James Gunn’s New DCU

    The moment James Gunn showcased his new DC slate for the newly founded DC Studios, many expected the current run of DC-based characters to be ending their run. No one knows if Ezra Miller will return after The Flash, especially with all the drama surrounding his public actions. Dwayne Johnson‘s JSA-focused mini-cinematic universe is definitely out after the chaos that was Black Adam. Yet, we now stand at a curious crossroads where many are wondering if they should even check out the latest DC entry.

    Of course, it’s always good to support a film no matter if it’s part of some bigger plan or not. And, for those specifically uncertain about Shazam’s future in the newly founded DCU, director David F. Sandberg has confirmed that he’s already had talks internally in regards to the franchise’s future and there’s actively no reason that they couldn’t make more films. Well, only if no one ends up watching the film.

    https://twitter.com/ponysmasher/status/1630409449860141058

    The only thing potentially hurting Shazam! Fury of the Gods is that it seemingly is not getting any real marketing push from Warner Bros. and is projected to open to a soft $40M. That is a far cry from the first film’s release and it’s unclear if it truly is just the lack of promotion or also the sour taste left by the Black Adam fallout. There’s a chance with raving reviews that it builds up more momentum and could go beyond the soft opening expectations but the question is if it’ll end up turning a profit, especially if DC Studios sees potential in at least a third entry.

    Source: Twitter

  • REPORT: ‘Deadpool’s Karan Soni Voicing Spider-Man India in ‘Across the Spider-Verse’

    REPORT: ‘Deadpool’s Karan Soni Voicing Spider-Man India in ‘Across the Spider-Verse’

    It’s crazy to think how close we are finally to see the next animated entry in the Spider-Verse Saga. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse sees Miles Morales returning once again to take on an unlikely challenge, though this time he’s about to be thrust across the multiverse rather than it coming to visit him.

    We know of quite a few Spider-People that’ll accompany or even fight our unlikely hero with one of the first being the addition of Spider-Man India. Pavitr Prabhakar was one of the first teased when the first ever teaser for the sequel was released back in 2021. Though he wasn’t included directly in the trailer, the signs all hinted at his origin and that it was part of his universe.

    Now, we may even know who’ll be voicing the character, as One Take News has shared that Deadpool‘s Karan Soni will take on the voice of Spider-Man India. This marks another Marvel role for the character, as he famously played the loveable Dopinder, who ends up in quite a few troubles since he befriended Deadpool.

    He’s definitely a great choice for the role, as he has a soft demeanor that would match the character’s iconic comic portrayal. Though, we don’t know if he will be an ally for Miles Morales, who might help him navigate the relentless pursuit of Spider-Man 2099. We saw them fight in his universe, and he may have a bigger role than we know.

    Source: One Take News

  • Warner Bros Wants ‘The Lord of the Rings’ to be Like ‘Star Wars’

    Warner Bros Wants ‘The Lord of the Rings’ to be Like ‘Star Wars’

    In a surprising twist, Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series, Rings of Power, is about to get its biggest competition yet in Warner Bros. Discovery, as they purchased the rights to once again create films based around the iconic novels of J.R.R. Tolkien. While their future is uncertain about where they are going with this new take, it does seem they are once again being quite ambitious.

    According to insiders, it seems that Warner Bros. has high hopes to turn Lord of the Rings into their Star Wars. They seem to ambitiously want to explore stories that all take place in the same world that offer different glimpses of this sprawling fantasy world created decades ago. It’s an ambitious thought, though raises more questions on how exactly they hope to achieve it.

    Unlike Star Wars, they don’t have a galaxy worth of storytelling with a franchise that is steeped in a wide variety of genres. Marvel and DC at least have decades of history with a broad range of characters they can bring to the silver screen, yet Lord of the Rings is mostly famous for two distinct stories.

    So, it would be quite challenging for them to not only find a way to create unique stories that could carry a “Cinematic Universe” approach but also somehow keep this very traditional fantasy story fresh. Warner Bros. is definitely ambitious with this project, but it does raise some eyebrows on how exactly they hope to achieve this even if they bring back the original trilogy’s director, Peter Jackson.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Latest ‘Persona 6’ Rumor Hints at a Potential Delay

    Latest ‘Persona 6’ Rumor Hints at a Potential Delay

    The hunt for any news regarding Persona 6 continues. After a rather disappointing Persona 25th Anniversary, Atlus has been coy about the future of the franchise. To be fari, we did get re-releases of their three most popular entries on all consoles, but it’s been strange not to end such a milestone with the next major installment even if it is years away. Ever since our Persona 6 news has mostly relied on online rumors.

    If there is one thing we know about the Internet, it is the fact that the rumor mill never truly rests. User “Im A Hero Too” has returned once again to ResetEra to unveil more on what may or may not be happening behind the scenes as we’re still missing out on any hints regarding the franchise’s future.

    In it, they reveal that Persona 6 has “absolute zero chance” to release in 2023, but does hint that they have a rough timeframe even if the project may have been delayed internally. The reasoning according to him is that they are focusing either to release the rumored Persona 3 Remake (also first unveiled by this user) or another game. Though he hints there’s a chance we’ll see a teaser at Sony’s next showcase, which might not be until this summer.

    Going by this timeline, we may have at least one potential Persona game releasing this year, but that might be a bit strange they’ll fast-track the remake of 3 given they just released a remaster of the PSP version. So, perhaps that won’t release until next year either, and who knows when Persona 6 may hit modern consoles. Though, we have to still take these statements with a grain of salt as neither project has officially been announced as of now. For now, it just looks like the wait for an official update may take quite a bit longer.

    Source: ResetEra via ComicBook

  • Warner Bros. Wants Peter Jackson Back for New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Films

    Warner Bros. Wants Peter Jackson Back for New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Films

    Every new franchise nowadays is more than just an ongoing series of films. We are long away from the days of trilogies or even long-running film series like Harry Potter. The Cinematic Universe is the template everyone aspires to be and that takes a visionary to push it forward. Warner Bros. already found their Kevin Feige in James Gunn and Peter Safran, but they have their eyes on another to revive their latest milestone franchise.

    Just after announcing to the world that they have acquired the rights to make Lord of the Rings films during the Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, insiders are hinting that they also already know who they want on board. After Amazon fumbled the bag, the production studio hopes to have Peter Jackson, the director of the original trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy, to bring this franchise back.

    Not just Jackson, but also his writing partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, who are “precious talent” for the studio. The biggest challenge ahead though is if this new film franchise can exist opposite the Amazon TV series, as they try to avoid them blurring the lines between these two takes on the same property. That will be quite tricky as they had the film’s original composer Howard Shore work on the main title.

    Amazon already has a 50-hour commitment to the series and is currently busy filming the second season. Showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne are still working on the project that was supposedly one of Amazon’s biggest shows ever but was given a rather mixed reception by the Internet and critics. It is still surprising they never went for the film rights, especially with MGM Studio now being a part of their expanding media landscape.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Leaked ‘One Piece’ Image May Offer New Glimpse at Mackenyu’s Zoro

    Leaked ‘One Piece’ Image May Offer New Glimpse at Mackenyu’s Zoro

    2023 started off strong for those looking forward to the new Netflix adaptation of One Piece. Not only did we get a first poster for the live-action series confirming a 2023 release, but a look at the entire Straw Hat crew swiftly followed it. Among them was our first look at what Mackenyu will look like as the iconic swordsman. With a rumored release date in August, news died down quite a bit on the series, at least until now.

    A new low-res image has found its way online via @OP_Netflix_Fan, which seemingly gives us our first tease of what Mackenyu’s Zoro looks like pulling off the three-sword style. While the image is exceptionally blurry, one can make out that it’s someone wearing a bandana with a sword in his mouth. While it’s not definite, there’s only one character that can pull off that kind of look.

    It’s unclear if this is an actual shot that’ll be used in the series or just something they were testing out. What is interesting is that he is seemingly holding one of the swords facing downwards, which is quite different from how he fights in the original anime. Though, it may be a way to give him more flexibility nd the action sequences will be quite a bit different in the live-action adaptation from his usual one-shots in the manga.

    Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a BTS image of the Three-Sword Style, as one of the earliest leaks ahead of production was an image of either Mackenyu or a stunt person practicing with this technique. There he’s holding the sword different, which may mean we’ll get quite a variety of fighting styles in the series. Here’s hoping our first official look isn’t too far away.

    Source: Twitter

  • Disney’s ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ Streaming Debut Date Revealed

    Disney’s ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ Streaming Debut Date Revealed

    Disney’s Peter Pan & Wendy has been set for a 2023 release for some time but had not been given a firm release date as of the studio’s latest slate update. Now the studio has revealed the release date for the live-action film along with the first trailer for the project.

    Peter Pan & Wendy, directed by David Lowery, is set to debut on April 28th on Disney Plus!

    Disney revealed a synopsis for the film via an official release:

    “Peter Pan & Wendy” introduces Wendy Darling, a young girl afraid to leave her childhood home behind, who meets Peter Pan, a boy who refuses to grow up. Alongside her brothers and a tiny fairy, Tinker Bell, she travels with Peter to the magical world of Neverland. There, she encounters an evil pirate captain, Captain Hook, and embarks on a thrilling and dangerous adventure that will change her life forever. The film stars Jude Law (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”), Alexander Molony (“The Reluctant Landlord”), Ever Anderson (“Resident Evil: The Final Chapter”), Yara Shahidi (“Grown-ish”), Alyssa Wapanatâhk, Joshua Pickering (“A Discovery of Witches”), Jacobi Jupe, Molly Parker (“House of Cards”), Alan Tudyk (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”), and Jim Gaffigan (“The Jim Gaffigan Show”). “Peter Pan and Wendy” is directed by David Lowery from a screenplay by David Lowery & Toby Halbrooks (“The Green Knight”) based on the novel by J. M. Barrie and the animated film “Peter Pan.” The producer is Jim Whitaker (“Pete’s Dragon”), with Adam Borba (“A Wrinkle in Time”), Thomas M. Hammel (“Thor: Ragnarok”), and Toby Halbrooks serving as executive producers.

  • Universal Makes a Late Change to the Release Date of ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’

    Universal Makes a Late Change to the Release Date of ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’

    The next couple of months are going to be exciting for fans as a near-constant stream of high-profile films will be releasing in theaters. Starting with March 3rd’s Creed III and continuing almost non-stop until May 5th’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, each week will see a new major release. Scream VI, Shazam: Fury of the Gods and John Wick 4 all follow Creed III and they are followed by Universal’s animated The Super Mario Bros. Movie which, according to a new trade report, will now be in theaters a tiny bit sooner than expected.

    The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which stars Chris Pratt as the voice of Mario, Charlie Day as his brother, Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach and Jack Black as Bowser, was originally scheduled for an April 7th release but has now moved up to April 5th. The move is likely intended to take advantage of long, Easter weekend that often coincides with U.S. schools either taking their Spring Break or providing days off for travel.

    This is the second shuffle for the film which was originally intended to hit theaters in December of 2022. Produced by Universal under their Illumination banner, The Super Mario Bros. Movie may spawn a Mario-verse with a potential sequel, an adaptation of Luigi’s Mansion and a Donkey Kong spinoff all rumored to have been discussed at some point.

    Source: Variety

  • Marvel Studios Is Far Less Worried about ‘Quantumania’ Than You Are

    Marvel Studios Is Far Less Worried about ‘Quantumania’ Than You Are

    The second lowest-rated Marvel Studios film on Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer. The second lowest Cinemascore of any Marvel Studios film. The largest second-weekend drop of any Marvel Studios film. An endless onslaught of complaints on social media. Things seem pretty bleak for Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania everywhere you look. But Marvel Studios isn’t anywhere near as worried about things as you are.

    According to Deadline, a Marvel Studios insider who was described as being “close to the film“, isn’t worried at all about the critical reception or box office receipts. In fact, while the insider knows there’s something to be learned from Quantumania, they suggest Marvel is “proud of the film.”

    Marvel takes something away from movie including Black Panther, including Avengers. I can say we’re incredibly proud of the film, Jonathan Majors does a fantastic job as Kang. It’s the movie we wanted to make. Box office is what it is. But it’s not going to stop people from going back to the theaters.

    Anonymous Marvel Studios Insider

    The reality of the whole situation is that in another week, Quantumania won’t even be a talking point as March comes loaded with major films. However, the last statement from the insider will be one to watch as Marvel Studios next project, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, starts its big marketing push ahead of its May 5th release. Should that project somehow fall short of expectations at the box office and be equally poorly received by critics, it’s possible Marvel may take a step back for deeper reflection on the performance of its Multiverse Saga.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Ant-Man 3′ Faces Marvel Studios’ Biggest Second Weekend Drop at 70%

    ‘Ant-Man 3′ Faces Marvel Studios’ Biggest Second Weekend Drop at 70%

    The numbers are finally in and it looks like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was able to make up some momentum over the weekend, as while many feared it’ll be the first superhero film to drop above 70% in its second weekend, it held on stronger than expected and entered its second weekend at $32.2M, which is still a sharp 69.7% decline. As of now, it makes it the biggest second-weekend drop for any Marvel Studios offering, which was previously held by Black Widow at 67.8%. It also is above that of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which held the record for the highest superhero drop in its second weekend at 69.1%. Though it could still go up or down depending on adjustments once Sunday’s final numbers are here.

    It had similar critical reception and CinemaScore to Eternals, which managed to hold at 62% during COVID. Even as people want to call this the end of Marvel Studios, the opening does paint a very specific picture of how Marvel films currently operate. They will draw in quite a crowd early on (with varying success depending on the marquee character) but depending on its rewatchability will leg out better or worse. Perhaps Quantumania‘s weirdness and comic book-inspired direction just was too much for audiences, just as much as it wasn’t jelling with critics.

    The film also had a harsher drop internationally with around 70% and currently is on its path to gross anywhere between $470M to $540M according to some estimates. Though it depends on its third weekend potentially inching it back up that could give us a better clue at where it is heading at the moment. Currently, it might make around 215M to 245M domestically. Quantumania currently stands at a still-strong 363.7M worldwide, and an insider seems to paint a different picture than the overreacting internet tends to:

    Marvel takes something away from movie including Black Panther, including Avengers. I can say we’re incredibly proud of the film, Jonathan Majors does a fantastic job as Kang. It’s the movie we wanted to make. Box office is what it is, but it’s not going to stop people from going back to the theaters.

    Quantumania still had a stronger second weekend than the previous two entries as Ant-Man stood at $24M and its sequel at 29M. So, it starts to paint the picture that this film is performing more like a regular Ant-Man threequel after a Captain America: Civil War-like opening. If word-of-mouth was better, the film would’ve had the potential to go much stronger but we’ll see if Marvel Studios has a reaction to it. Still, if it hits the higher parts of its current estimates, the film could still manage to outgross the first entry. The only issue is its much higher budget that probably leaves a bit of a stomach ache for Marvel; though it’s not the “end of Marvel” or “Marvel fatigue” going by its opening alone.

    The lower Chinese market makes all the difference considering both previous entries pulled around $100M+ from that market which hasn’t had a Marvel opening since 2019 and generally saw far weaker performances from most Hollywood productions in that market. As stated earlier, the film is likely to break even at this rate, which is still better than most high-budget releases that we saw last year that faced far worse odds. Also Deadline pointed out that science-fiction shows struggle more in specific markets which we’re also seeing reflected here, as this was the most “out-there” direction the franchise took besides simple space travel to other planets.

    Something worth noting though is that the second weekend may have seen an overall harsher drop, but its Friday-to-Saturday numbers paint a very curious picture. Thor: Love and Thunder dropped around 68% in its second weekend but saw a much softer jump from Friday to Saturday at around 34%. It’s Thursday to Friday was also at around 65%, which could be due to the stronger weekly performance during the summer. Quantumania had a stronger jump than Multiverse of Madness going into its Friday (+119% vs. +111%) and from there going into Saturday (+76% vs. 54%). The Saturday-to-Sunday drop is slightly harsher (-36% vs. -31%) but could be an indicator for its third weekend. The big question is the drop going into Monday and how it carries into the next week.

    The weekend had a surprise opening for Cocaine Bear at $23M, which likely had its male audience take a bigger bite out of Ant-Man than expected. Though the film might also face a harsher drop next weekend, as unlike M3GAN or Violent Night, it got a softer B- CinemaScore with more mixed reactions from audiences. Still, it’s a good opening for the out-there black comedy and likely got its CinemaScore from the amount of gore that was included; something horror films generally struggle with when it comes to audience reception.

    Source: Variety, Twitter, Deadline, The Numbers, The Numbers (Love and Thunder),