Murphy's Multiverse

Category: News

  • Michael Giacchino Pitched the ‘Werewolf by Night’ Special to Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige

    Michael Giacchino Pitched the ‘Werewolf by Night’ Special to Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige

    Marvel Studios is heading into new territory with their Special Presentation, Werewolf by Night. Composer Michael Giacchino is taking on directing duties for the first time, as he pays tribute to the classic black-and-white horror movies to offer something quite unique to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Many wondered if the character was always on Marvel’s radar, but it turns out this was actually Giacchino’s idea.

    In an interview by ScreenRant from the post-D23 wrap-up, they got the chance to talk to the director on the project, and he reveals that he actually pitched the idea to Kevin Feige to bring this iconic horror character to life.

    You know what, it was funny because Kevin [Feige] was talking to me and said, ‘So what would you want to do?’ And I was like, ‘I want to do Werewolf by Night.’ And he looked at me like, ‘Really? Like really? Werewolf–’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s what I want.’ He was like, ‘Wow. Okay, alright. Let’s talk about that.’ And the conversation just kept going, and going, and going, and then, and here we are now.”

    Michael Giacchino

    He also highlights that this project is indeed going to be “standalone” and offered them the opportunity to do something different with such a unique character within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    But it was a real gift to be given something that was different and standalone from everything else that they’ve been doing so, it was also a gift. But it was also terrifying because I was like… I didn’t want to mess it up. I felt like you know there was a lot, even though it was a smaller project, it felt like there was a lot at stake, you know, in terms of what we were doing. So I don’t know, but we had fun.

    Michael Giacchino

    There’s a lot of excitement about what Werewolf by Night has to offer and what could make it stand out from other projects. Its style and ambitions look like they could open the floodgates for future Special Presentations that offer something unique.

    You can watch the full interview here:

    Source: YouTube via The Direct

  • ‘Andor’ Showrunner Wanted to Make the Disney+ Series Feel “Real”

    ‘Andor’ Showrunner Wanted to Make the Disney+ Series Feel “Real”

    Andor is the latest Star Wars series heading to Disney+ but it’s taking a different approach this time around. We’re set to explore a new corner of the ever-expanding galaxy, as we move away from the many legacy characters and take a look at what this universe was like under the ruling thumb of the Empire. Instead of a former Jedi Master, we return to Diego Luna‘s Cassian Andor who offers a more grounded look that many fans may have not seen yet.

    In the official press conference for the Disney+ series, Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy offered a glimpse of how they tackled the series but also highlighted how they couldn’t have truly shaped or even attempted this project without the Star Wars fandom behind it. They are not only making it for those that love this franchise but also exploring a more “real” part of this universe.

    That’s what gave us the money and the momentum and the ability to make a show that’s this insanely big, I mean, this abundant and this difficult to make. That audience is our primary concern, and we want to bring something to them that is a completely different lane than what they’ve had before, but we’re doing it in a completely uncynical fashion.

    Tony Gilroy

    He goes on to highlight that very “uncynical fashion” approach they took with the series to make it stand out from the rest, especially in how they wanted to build it up for the community.

    There’s nothing cynical about our show. The word we use more every day, and I was at Pinewood today prepping for two, is real. We want to make this real. This place is real to us. And we will bring a lot of things to that community that we hope they’re really interested in, and we hope they really appreciate it, and we hope they really appreciate the passion that we’ve tried to make it real. At the same time, it’s no secret.

    Tony Gilroy

    It’s definitely an exciting prospect to take the fantastical realm of Star Wars and take a more grounded look. Moving away from the Jedi and Sith that made it famous, we get a closer look at a much harsher world that lives under the thumb of a ruthless Empire. It feels like the Rogue One prequel was the perfect jumping-off point for Tony Gilroy to build upon. With a second season on the horizon, here’s hoping this might also set a new direction for the franchise.

  • RUMOR: Runtime for Remaining ‘House of the Dragon’ Episodes Revealed

    RUMOR: Runtime for Remaining ‘House of the Dragon’ Episodes Revealed

    The House of the Dragon, the major hit for HBO and HBO Max, has reached its halfway point with five more episodes to go. The project is taking a new direction as two of its main cast will be replaced to showcase the time that has passed since the events of its fifth episode. Outside of a promo teasing what’s to come, we will have to see what the future has in store for Visery, Daemon, Rhaenyra, and more.

    With five more episodes to go, it seems that the Twitter page @HOTDsource may have gotten their hands on the runtimes for the final five episodes with the titles offering some interesting hints at where the story is heading, especially with the final episode’s title being “The Black Queen.”

    The episode lengths are pretty normal for an HBO Max production, which normally moves around the full hour mark. We’ve seen a lot of shows vary in their runtime with 40 minutes to over an hour becoming the norm. Though Netflix has been very experimental with Stranger Things even having a full two-hour episode to wrap up its latest season.

    As a second season is already renewed for House of the Dragon, they might be keeping an extended episode for when the time is right in a future season. With the season being among the biggest that HBO has ever seen, it’s very likely that we’ll get quite a bit more from the Game of Thrones franchise in the future.

    Source: Twitter

  • EA’s Motive Working on Single-Player ‘Iron Man’ Game

    EA’s Motive Working on Single-Player ‘Iron Man’ Game

    Not too long ago we learned that the studio behind Just Cause, Avalance Studios, was working on an open-world Iron Man game. Yet, that project was swept under the rug some time ago. As it turns out, that wasn’t the end of that gaming franchise as Motive and Electronic Arts have just announced they are working on a new single-player, third-person action-adventure game exploring the character of Iron Man.

    It seems that the game is only in early development. As such, we shouldn’t expect any news anytime soon. It will see a Marvel gaming veteran return with Olivier Proulx spearheading the project after his previous experience on the Guardians of the Galaxy game. He’s also joined by some industry veterans like Ian Frazier, Maëlenn Lumineau, and JF Poirier. Marvel Games’ Vice President and Creative Director, Bill Rossman, shared the following statement:

    We are thrilled to collaborate with the talented team at Motive Studio to bring their original vision of one of Marvel’s most important, powerful and beloved characters. Their experience delivering both established entertainment worlds and thrilling gameplay — combined with their authentic passion for the armored icon — will fuel our quest to deliver a love letter to a legendary hero in the form of the ultimate Iron Man video game.

    Bill Rossman

    It’s certainly exciting to see the many iconic characters of Marvel’s history getting their time in the spotlight in gaming. There are still rumors of a Black Panther game on the horizon and while the reception has been mixed, Marvel’s Avengers is still going strong with Winter Soldier set to arrive at some point later this year. Spider-Man‘s getting a sequel while Insomniac’s also working on a Wolverine game. So, the future looks bright for Marvel.

    Source: Electronic Arts

  • Tony Gilroy Teases ‘Andor’ Season 2 Details Ahead of Series Premiere

    Tony Gilroy Teases ‘Andor’ Season 2 Details Ahead of Series Premiere

    Lucasfilm’s newest Star Wars streaming series, Andor, debuts with 3 episodes on September 21st but before fans have seen an episode, creator Tony Gilroy is already teasing the show’s second season.

    Season One of Andor is comprised of 12 episodes that span the course of one year in the life of Cassian Andor and detail how he came to be a key piece of the Rebel Alliance and the plan to take down the Death Star. Through the first four episodes shown to the press, nearly a dozen characters new to the Star Wars universe were introduced. According to Gilroy, that’s just a fraction of what’s to come over the remaining eight episodes and many of those characters are headed to Season Two.

    What’s cool is that we’ll be introducing new characters in the second half, but there’s 25, 30 characters of import that we’re carrying forward from one to the next. You already know them, you already know a lot about them.

    Tony Gilroy

    The second season of Andor, which will also consist of twelve episodes, will find a Cassian who Gilroy says will have made “a commitment to the Rebellion” by then, allowing that season to “explore a bunch of different things.” The second season will be uniquely structured to allow every three episodes to cover one year in the life of the characters. By the end of Season Two, the timeline will have caught up to where fans first met Cassian at the beginning of Rogue One. As Gilroy puts it, by the beginning of the second season, “time becomes our friend.“

    Read our full review of the first four episodes of Andor, which begins streaming tomorrow only on Disney Plus to find out how Cassian starts the journey that leads him to the Battle of Scariff.

    Source: Total Film

  • James Cameron on How ‘Avatar’ Impacted Blockbusters

    James Cameron on How ‘Avatar’ Impacted Blockbusters

    When Avatar first hit theaters in 2009, no one could have imagined how big the film would become. Avatar would go on to set the record for the highest-grossing film of all time, passed Titanic‘s gross in a little over a month, and set records for how quickly it hit $500 million and above. To date, Avatar remains the highest-grossing movie of all time with $2.8 billion worldwide. Now, ahead of the long-awaited sequel’s release in December, Disney’s 20th Century Studios is set to re-release Avatar for a limited two-week engagement, allowing fans to see the movie in a brand new light.

    To promote the upcoming re-release, writer and director James Cameron was on hand for a virtual press conference, where he recalled Avatar‘s impact on Hollywood. While Avatar was certainly not the first film to use highly advanced computer effects, Avatar did help Hollywood and audiences embrace 3D – at least for a brief moment in time. Although plenty of films failed to successfully make use of 3D technology, Avatar had been shot with a 3D digital camera and went on to earn best cinematography at the 82nd Academy Awards.

    I think that there was a…  I would say that the 3D was embraced in general for a period of time.  I mean, Avatar won best cinematography with a 3D digital camera.  No digital camera had ever won the best cinematography Oscar before.  And then two out of the three subsequent years, the same cameras were used by the cinematographers that won the Oscars.  So you’ve got three out of four years where digital cinematography was embraced by the Academy. And all three-all three of those films, three out of four, Oscar winners for four years, were in 3D.  So, and then 3D has sort of, appears to most people to sort of be over.  But it’s really not over.  It’s just been accepted.  It’s just now part of the choices that you face when you go to a theater to see a big blockbuster movie.  So you could choose to see it in 2D, choose to see it in 3D, generally speaking these days.  So I liken it to color.

    Cameron

    Cameron goes on to compare the use of 3D to when color was first introduced in movies. While some might’ve attempted the technology prior to Avatar, there is no denying 3D films became popular following the release of Avatar in 3D. Cameron, of course, acknowledges that the 3D format has seemingly died down, but with the release of Avatar: The Way of the Water this December, perhaps that could change yet again.

    When color first came out, it was a big deal.  People used to go see movies because they were in color.  You know, and I think around the time of Avatar, people went to see movies because they were in 3D.  Nobody’s gonna go see a movie today because it’s in 3D.  It’s all the other factors by which we choose a film.  So I think, you know, it had an impact on the way films were presented that’s now just sort of accepted and part of the zeitgeist and how it’s done.  Terms of long-term cultural impact, well, I guess we’ll find out if people show up for Avatar 2.

    Cameron

    Avatar will be temporarily removed from Disney+ ahead of its re-release in theaters. The re-release will be for two weeks only beginning on Sept. 23rd and will see the film available in stunning 4K High Dynamic Range. Written and directed by Cameron, Avatar stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver. The film was produced by Cameron and Jon Landau. The long-awaited sequel, Avatar: The Way of the Water, will finally be released in theaters this December, just in time for the holidays.

  • ‘Andor’s Diego Luna Teases What Sparked His Interest to Return to Play Cassian Andor Once More

    ‘Andor’s Diego Luna Teases What Sparked His Interest to Return to Play Cassian Andor Once More

    Andor will be another pre-A New Hope prequel for the Star Wars franchise but is taking a very different approach from Obi-Wan Kenobi. It’s moving away from heavy legacy characters and offering a much more grounded tale by exploring the dark past hinted at by Cassian Andor during Rogue One, which also had a much more grounded take on the galactic adventure.

    It seems that very fact was also what inspired its star, Diego Luna, to make his return to the franchise. In the official press conference for the series, the star got a chance to talk about what drew him back to the role and it seems that the possibility to re-explore his character’s past beyond the limitations of the film’s original runtime led to his excitement for revisiting this world.

    That, to me, is really interesting to know. He talks about a dark past. He talks about doing terrible stuff for the Rebellion. What is he referring to? I think that story matters. That story is interesting. And there is a lot of material there for us to play. So I was really excited to be able to go into that journey and give those answers, you know?

    Diego Luna

    In regards to the “material” mentioned, we’ve learned at one point that the original plan was to make five seasons that would explore a year in his life with each season. Yet, it seems that they realized that would be quite a time investment and decided to spread it out more evenly throughout two seasons, which will be interesting to see how they handle that balance throughout it’s run.

  • New Rumor Indicates Another Major Netflix Character is Set to Join the MCU

    New Rumor Indicates Another Major Netflix Character is Set to Join the MCU

    First Charlie Cox. Then Vincent D’Onofrio. Now, a new rumor has another major player from Netflix’s Defendersverse series set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. According to KC Walsh, Krysten Ritter’s Jessica Jones, whose rumored appearance in She-Hulk was nothing more than speculation, was set to join the cast of the Disney Plus streaming series, Daredevil: Born Again, but was unable to make the commitment because of a scheduling conflict. In her place, Marvel Studios has allegedly decided to bring Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle on instead.

    Though Walsh didn’t mention Bernthal by name, the rumor mill has been active around the actor’s arrival in the MCU for months. Dating back to SDCC ’22, fans were buzzing about the possibility of Bernthal’s Frank Castle showing up in an upcoming MCU project, with some rumors even pointing to a Punisher series being in the works. While no further mention has been made of that possibility, the rumors continue to pile up about Castle’s appearance in Daredevil: Born Again. In early August, fellow Netflix star Rosario Dawson added to the buzz during an interview at the C2E2 2022 when she told the crowd she had recently learned “the Punisher was happening again.” Dawson later recanted her statement saying “I can’t be trusted”, but the rumors haven’t died down.

    Bernthal first played Frank Castle in 2016 during the second season of Netflix’s Daredevil and his portrayal of the character was an instant hit with fans. He went on to star as the character over 2 13-episode seasons of The Punisher before the show was non-renewed in 2019. With the live-action rights to the characters reverting back to Marvel Studios and Cox’s appearances in Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law and D’Onofrio’s appearance in Hawkeye, it’s always seemed to be a matter of when other characters from the Defendersverse would arrive in the MCU, no if. With Daredevil: Born Again not filming until 2023 and not streaming until 2024, fans may have to wait quite some time to find out exactly when that when is.

  • ‘Andor’ Showrunner Hints at Season 2 Release in 2024

    ‘Andor’ Showrunner Hints at Season 2 Release in 2024

    We’re only a few more days ahead of the release of Andor, the latest Disney+ series to release and further explore the Star Wars galaxy. We’ve known for a while that we’ll also be getting a second season, which will likely start production soon. As it turns out he’s expecting to start production by November according to showrunner Tony Gilroy in an interview with The Wrap. Even still, we shouldn’t expect the release until 2024.

    I have two more years to go. We start shooting in November on Part 2. And I don’t know if … Our past pattern was two years, but I mean, I’ll be on … We’ll shoot from November to August. And then our post[-production] last time was about a year.

    Tony Gilroy

    In an interesting tidbit during the interview, Gilroy hints at the fact that this might be the most time he’s ever spent on a franchise as he tends to jump from one project to the next; highlighting how dedicated he is to this project.

    This is the most home I’ve ever made. I’ve always had a very nimble approach to this. I never take a job in front of another job. I’ve always just done one thing at a time and moved around and never made a company or got a letterhead or I never had a production deal or anything. This is the longest I’ve ever spent anywhere.

    Tony Gilroy

    It’s definitely motivating to see that the project has Gilroy wanting to spend as much time as he can on it. His initial idea for Andor was originally going to consist of five seasons which would highlight just how excited he was to tackle the project moving forward even as he compressed the idea into two seasons.

    Source: The Wrap

  • ‘Never Have I Ever’ Star Joins Neil Blomkamp’s ‘Gran Turismo’

    ‘Never Have I Ever’ Star Joins Neil Blomkamp’s ‘Gran Turismo’

    Sony is turning up the gear to ensure they have the cast ready for the upcoming live-action adaptation of the popular gaming franchise Gran Turismo. They already have District 9 and Elysium director Neil Blomkamp attached to tackle the project and has already gathered quite the cast. With veterans David Harbour and Orlando Bloom, Sony’s upcoming racing film has also added See‘s Archie Madekwe in a leading position. Now it seems they have one more star to add to the list in Never Have I Ever‘s Darren Barnet.

    Of course, the ongoing casting announcements are mostly due to production having already started in Hungary this week. They will adapt the film based on a script by American Sniper‘s Jason Hall and King Richard‘s Zach Baylin. While it’s an adaptation inspired by the video game, it’s also set to be based on a true story and acts as the ultimate wish-fulfillment for a fan of the video game getting his chance to actually start a career as a race car driver.

    Madekwe will take on the role of the teenager, who got his chance at a group of Nissan competitions to make a dream come to life. Harbour will be the retired driver that teaches the kid with Bloom set to take on the role of the hungry marketing executive looking at the perfect PR scheme. Barnet’s role is seemingly someone who is at the top of the GT Academy and isn’t a big fan of the thought that some upstart might pass him.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter