Here’s a curious surprise. Entertainment Weekly suddenly revealed that the Hit-Monkey animated series was heading to Hulu in November with our first look at the series. Noticeably, the Marvel logo was absent in the initial promotion which led to a report that the show’s bloody action would see it act as an independent series. Yet, the trailer has finally dropped revealing that they did decide to add the Marvel logo and even promoted it directly through the Marvel page. As such, it now is titled Marvel’s Hit-Monkey moving forward similar to the M.O.D.O.K. series, which it was originally going to crossover within The Offenders.
The first promotion also confirmed the show’s cast with Fred Tatasciore voicing the titular monkey. As we found out, Jason Sudekis will play the ghost of Bryce, who pushes our main ape through his hitman journey. The series has also added George Takei, Olivia Munn, Ally Maki, and Nobi Nakanishi in various roles. The series will consist of 10 episodes that’ll premiere on November 17th on Hulu.
Here’s a curious hint. There have been many discussions if Marvel Studios will manage to release any films in China this year due to various factors. Shang-Chi still hasn’t gotten one and there was no sign Eternals wouldn’t face the same fate. Chloé Zhao‘s win at the Oscars was heavily praised by the country until comments surfaced that changed their attitude to muting anything in relation to the director online. As such, it seemed unlikely her film will get a Chinese release. Yet, a new banner may have hinted at
Twitter user @FILMemesTW shared a banner that reveals Eternals will release in Hong Kong theaters as of November 4th. The curious aspect is that it would be a day before it releases in the States. There hasn’t been an official statement so we might still need to take this with a grain of salt for now but it popping up online is curious.
China has been very strict with its releases as of late, which has kept many productions from hitting any record numbers in their international box office. F9 and Godzilla vs. Kong have made around $200M alone in the Eastern country, which boosted their international standing quite a bit. The current leading film worldwide is a Chinese propaganda film that has garnered almost one billion in the country alone.
Marvel Studios has still been performing well even without their usual Chinese release. Shang-Chi seems to be on route to pass $400M in its runtime which would be on par with films like Ant-Man in non-pandemic times. Black Widow also had the added benefit of releasing on Disney+ Premier Access which gave it a nice boost in numbers but added its own issues when it came to a foreign release. Still, it’ll be interesting to see if the Chinese release gets announced and how it may benefit the Zhao-directed project’s overall box office performance.
Batman is all the rage right now. Next year will see not one but three live-action Batmen on the big screen. The interesting part is that two of them will star in the same movie. Since production on The Flash began, director Andy Muschietti has been dropping emblem reveals for his film’s protagonist. Many fans are eager to see the return of Ben Affleck as Batman and assumed Batman Day would be the day, but to not avail. To catch us off-guard, Muschietti did indeed share a tease, just a day late.
In a new Instagram post, the director revealed another look at a costume for the upcoming film, but this time it’s sending some mixed signals. What we’ve got this time around is a Batsuit belonging to Keaton but seems to have been spray-painted red with a yellow lightning bolt over the bat. It seems this could be a look at one of Barry’s possible suits in the film. There are also some noticeable differences from previous teases.
In Justice League, it is revealed that Barry’s suit is made out of the same materials Nasa uses to protect its spaceships from burning up once they re-entered Earth’s atmosphere. To keep it from falling apart, it is held together with wiring. Barry used this suit to run around in as it’s the only material that can withstand his abilities. There’s a chance that his suit cannot withstand whatever leads him into the multiverse and is destroyed upon arrival. This old Batsuit acts as a replacement until he eventually gets his new suit revealed at last year’s Fandome, which we saw in some set photos. It’ll be interesting to see if we get a closer look at this year’s DC FanDome.
It looks like Denis Villeneuve‘s upcoming Dune film is off to a great start, as it managed to nab $36.8M internationally in 24 markets. Currently, it is ahead of Black Widow (which didn’t have a China release) and even Villeneuve‘s last film, Blade Runner 2049. It’ll have some smaller releases ahead of its domestic debut in late October which may work in the film’s favor of having an HBO Max release in the States. Perhaps it’s part of Warner Bros.’s strategy to avoid the piracy aspect that’s been hurting these day-and-date releases.
Shang-Chi has been doing quite well internationally, as it now stands at around $320M worldwide. It’s passed A Quiet Place Part II and Sonic the Hedgehog putting it at the higher end of this year’s earners. Its toughest competition remains the Chinese releases of Godzilla vs. Kong and F9, who managed to add an extra $200M in the market respectively. Yet, current predictions still put it at a strong $414M on par with Ant-Man. It may even pass Black Widow domestically at this rate. No small feat for a theatre-only release during a pandemic.
As Forbes’ Scott Mendelsohn points out, the benchmark for potential sequels lies with a $350M box office. Tenet‘s early release set the current industry standard as it still tries to recover from the pandemic, which still has no end in sight. With this trajectory, it seems safe to assume that Dune will get a sequel, as it only adapts the first half of the original novel. Shang-Chi also seems like a safe bet to explore a new legend now that went beyond everyone’s expectations. We’ll see how the rest of the year plays out as more films hit the market.
It looks like the upcoming Lord of the Rings spinoff series is actively seeking to bring back the original trilogy’s composer Howard Shore back into the fold. He’s worked on a variety of series which also include The Hobbit trilogy, Hugo, The Departed, and even the Twilight saga. The series wrapped up production for its first season and is currently in post-production. Shore has yet to sign on for what may be the most expensive television series ever developed, as its production budget stands at an astounding $465 million.
That’s just how much the first season costs with a second already signed off, which will move production from New Zealand to the UK. It’s still a shocking development as the country was one of the landmarks behind the original films. The costs seemed to go into building some of the most elaborate sets for a show. Yet, it won’t be cheap as they’ll get shipped from New Zealand to the UK adding more fuel to the fire for this abrupt move. The belief is due to the author’s own heritage, the shire was based in rural England that the show is trying to capture moving forward.
J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay are developing the series that will explore the SEcond AGe of Middle-Earth, which takes place thousands of years before the original film trilogy and novels. The series has gathered an extensive cast that will showcase the confrontation with a re-emerging evil as the times of peace come to an end.
I’ve got so much to tell you about that, but I’m out of time. Yeah, I can’t say anything about that, sworn to silence. I can say I’m working on it and I can tell you it’s gonna blow your mind. You saw him arrive in my episode of The Mandalorian, that was nothing. That was nothing. I can talk it up all I want because I know it’s gonna deliver, I know it’s gonna over-deliver.
Robert Rodriguez
It’s certainly promising as the action sequence was one of the second season’s highlights. Boba Fett is a curious character, as he hasn’t done much within the cinematic aspect of the universe. Still, he became an instant fan-favorite and lived on through novelizations that seemed to inspire his return in the Disney+ series. So, the moment he took on an entire Stormtrooper platoon with ease and showcased his varied arsenal. It stuck out to many viewers of the series and Rodriguez certainly is hyping up what else the bounty hunter might have in store in the upcoming spinoff.
Another weekend has passed and it seems Shang-Chi is still holding on to the top spot. It’s currently eyeing to end the Sunday with a total domestic of $176.1M after an incredible hold of 61%. It’s the second-best third weekend in September with $21M only beaten by the horror film It with $29.75M. The film is showing healthy legs and also benefits from a lack of competition. It went up against the new release of Clint Eastwood‘s Cry Macho, which is only eyeing around $4.7M over the three-day weekend. Unlike the Marvel Studios production, it’s also currently available via HBO Max and could see a strong drop on Sunday.
Currently, it looks like Ryan Reynold‘s Free Guy will take the second spot as it may pass the $5M mark this weekend. Other releases aren#t doing much better, as Cop Shop featuring Gerard Butler might miss hitting the $3M this weekend even with glowing reviews by critics. Its reception by viewers is telling a different story. It’s likely to end up on the sixth spot with horror films Candyman and Malignant ahead.
Shang-Chiand the Legend of the Ten Rings seem to indicate that the core audience is back in theatres, but not everything is quite where it used to be. Venom: Let There Be Carnage moved back to its October 1st release and with Dune on the horizon, the films might add some much-needed energy. The lack of a Chinese release is hurting some films, as it’s been the saving grace for F9: The Fast Saga and Godzilla vs. Kong. The latter pulled in almost around $200M from that market alone putting it ahead of the current domestic leaders.
Life is busy. Sometimes too busy to catch up on all the big news of the week. Never fear, The Pulse is here to get you all caught up on the biggest stories of the past week, September 13-18th.
Hit Monkey First Look, Release Date Revealed
Once upon a time, Marvel Entertainment gave the green light to a handful of animated series. Of those, only MODOK and Hit Monkey survived Kevin Feige’s ascendancy. While we’ll probably never see The Offenders event series, we can see Hit Monkey beginning on November 17th on Hulu. The show is rumored to be “hyper-violent”, so we might not see the Marvel Studios credits roll ahead of it, but it’s still looking like it’ll be a blast.
Serkis Says Spidey and Venom Meeting is “Gonna Happen”
Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage screened last week and all the buzz (including from the studio, bizarrely enough) was about the post-credit scene that is rumored to hint at something fans have long hoped for: Spidey and Venom being in the same place. According to the film’s director, Andy Serkis, fans are eventually going to get what they hope for, saying “of course it’s gonna happen.” When? How? Why? Which Spidey? We’ll all find out together.
Krysten Ritter Wants to Join Charlie Cox in the MCU
Actress Krysten Ritter, who brought Marvel’s Jessica Jones to life on Netflix back in 2015, has decided that she’d like to not be done playing the character. Ritter, who was last seen as Jones in 2019’s third season of Jessica Jones, says she’d “absolutely just die to play Jessica again.” Nobody wants Ritter to die, but it’s great to know she’s up for returning to the role and reimagining the character like her Defenders co-star Charlie Cox totally for sure isn’t doing in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
‘THE PENGUIN’ Series in Development at HBO Max
Director Matt Reeves is definitely getting the chance to do some world building around his upcoming Batman film. The latest development, according to Deadline, is a streaming series focused on Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot. That makes at least 2 series spinning out of 2022’s The Batman.
We’ve been hearing more and more about what it’s like to work with Marvel Studios. Disney+ is some unknown territory for the production company and may have shifted their approach to adapt to the new format. Unlike their films, they can’t follow the usual three-act structure but have to find a different way of balancing the dramatic and action aspects of their projects. WandaVision showrunner Jac Schaeffer shared the challenge she faced getting the fight scenes down after focusing primarily on the dramatic aspects of the story. In the interview with Hollywood Reporter she shares that:
The finale was the hardest because that’s the Marvel-iest part. It’s always tough to really nail down on the mythology. What does Agatha [Kathryn Hahn] want and what does her power set look like? What does that mean for Wanda? How do we make that interesting? What’s the chess board where all the players give everybody a satisfying conclusion? It’s the third act of a Marvel movie. I’ve been around the block on some of those, and they’re so fun — but that’s always the hardest to land.
Jac Schaeffer
She highlights that the iconic and gut-wrenching goodbye sequence was the clearest vision she had going into the project. Yet, the path filled with fights between two Visions and Wanda’s takedown of Agatha took the most time. Most of the series pays tribute to classic sitcoms and takes quite the shift in the finale. Schaeffer‘s comment does highlight that they are one of the most challenging aspects of these projects. Action sequences that tie the entire story together while also keeping a dramatic core aren’t easy to balance. It can sometimes drag down a strong story if it doesn’t nail the ending. Luckily, WandaVision was able to accomplish just that.
After a long wait, Hit Monkey has finally been unveiled. It’s one of the last entries that was once set to become part of The Offenders crossover at Hulu. Yet, even with its release date out there, the thing that may have caught many reader’s eyes is that it doesn’t have the Marvel title. Even MODOK held the title in its advertising for the series even with its darker, adult-themed humor.
It is still based on the Marvel character, but won’t hold the title just like Helstrom did right around the time Marvel TV was absorbed into Marvel studios. We may have gotten an answer on why, as ComicBook.com’s Adam Barnhardt shared on Twitter that it’s being left out due to how violent the series is going to be. It may also be the reason why the last Marvel TV live-action series also lost that part of the title and not due to the merger, as many suspected.
It’ll be interesting if Marvel Studios’ future projects might take a similar approach. Deadpool kept its R-rating and Marvel logo while beheading enemies. Yet, it also was published through 20th Century Fox that doesn’t have the same limitations that Disney has. We know that the third entry in the Deadpool franchise will be part of the MCU, which means it’ll hold the Marvel Studios title. Perhaps Hit Monkey might be the last not to get the title, as Marvel Studios starts developing their future projects.
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