Some of the first signs that a show or film is coming soon is merchandise popping up at various big retail stores. If these two t-shirts recently spotted at a Wal-Mart (see the tags) are any indication, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series is still planned to release this year! There’s not much point in releasing merchandise for a show not arriving until next year, after all!
Check them out below!
Source: @SpinelessOyster on Twitter
Anyone else getting the feeling that people have been getting way too good at data mining lately? We have another victim of the Internet’s curiosity, as some new code was found on the Disney+ website. This news stems from the site Disney Plus Informer. The service may expand with a new feature called Group Watch. This function would allow you to send an invite to up to 7 accounts to join the watch party. There is a limitation to accounts within the same country though. Also, if the person doesn’t have an account, the feature would promote you to create one. All this was found within the site’s coding.
What makes this functionality stand out is that it allows people to interact while watching the film or TV series. So a chat and reaction function will be available. Naturally, you are limited to a specific screening so you can’t join multiple Group Watch rooms at the same time. Adding to that, the timing seems to suggest it will be launched alongside Premier Access for Mulan. However, you need to keep in mind that everyone has to have paid Premier Access to join that specific party. Otherwise, you will be locked out of the content.
There is one more detail that makes this project stand out. A while back, we potentially uncovered that they might be working on an adult-section in Disney+ for international markets. Star India was included in the Fox deal, so they would implement this branding to offer more adult content instead of rolling out Hulu in other markets. Now, one aspect that made this story stand out was that they would implement a PIN function to ensure child-safety when entering a Group Watch. If the app mainly focuses on child- and family-friendly content it would not be required. This might be more evidence that Disney will expand the app to offer more adult-themed content that would require its implementation. It will be interesting to keep an eye out for how this develops.
Source: Disney Plus Informer
Tenet was the film everyone was hoping to revive cinemas. It constantly got delayed before sticking to an August release. Some international markets have seen a recovery with cinemas opening throughout August. China has rebounded immensely with its locally-produced film The Eight Hundred making more than $200 million. This looked like a good sign that cinemas could spark Box Office numbers and keep the market afloat after months of lockdown. The international numbers are in and it is looking good that Christopher Nolan was so focused on it remaining a cinema release.
The film now has opened in 40 markets including Canada. It has now made around $54 million in its opening weekend. Keep in mind that the film hasn’t opened in China yet, which is the second-largest market. While these numbers aren’t record-breaking, it is still a massive start in these uncertain times. Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich gave the following statement regarding its opening numbers.
We are off to a fantastic start internationally and couldn’t be more pleased. Christopher Nolan has once again delivered an event worthy motion picture that demands to be seen on the big screen, and we are thrilled that audiences across the globe are getting the opportunity to see Tenet.
This could be a sign that cinemas will be able to recuperate after lockdown measures have been lowered. Some markets are hit harder than others, so these will easily fluctuate. The film cost $200 million to make. So, to break-even, it would need to make at least $400 million. This does not include various marketing costs that were also affected by the pandemic. We will see how it performs in China, but the odds are it will draw some attention in the empty market. Right now, the focus will remain on international markets as the U.S. is still trying to recover. Tenet will be the benchmark for others in the industry. It will determine if films like Wonder Woman 1984 or Black Widow will stick to their 2020 release dates.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
It’s already been seven years since G.I. Joe: Retaliation was released. Cobra took out many key members of the Joes. Those remaining were on their own in their war to take down Cobra Commander. While the film was a continuation of Rise of Cobra, it replaced most of the cast. Dwayne Johnson, D.J. Cotrona, Adrianne Palicki, Ray Stevenson, and Bruce Willis took over as the core Joe team. As the film wasn’t a major Box Office success, we thought that was the end of the iconic cartoon’s live-action adaptation. Suddenly, they announced that a spin-off focusing on Snake Eyes was being developed.
Originally, the film was slated to release this October. As everything has been delayed, the film will now officially be delayed for an entire year. Now, it is slated to release on October 22nd, 2021. While the wait will be much longer, it does mean they have enough time to make up for the lost time. Director Robert Schwentke can focus on editing, as they try to reboot the series with this brand new film. Interesting to note, the original tweet has been deleted.
The film will have quite a cast. We will see a lot of iconic characters from the cartoon make an appearance, such as Samara Weaving as Scarlett, Iko Uwais playing Hard Master, Andrew Koji taking over as Storm Shadow, and Ursula Corbero as The Baroness. The main focus will be the rise of Snake Eyes but it is uncertain if he will don his iconic uniform in the film. Hopefully, the spin-off will take some inspiration from classic Akira Kurosawa films. The first image they revealed from the film did give off those vibes, so it will be something to keep an eye out for.
Source: Comic Book
Jurassic World: Dominion recently took their filming to Malta and eagle eyed fans are now being treated to a peek at some stand ins for seemingly new and very dangerous looking dinosaurs!
Not the usual thing we see stalking down a city street, but then the ending of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom made it clear, Pandora’s box has been opened, and things would never be the same.
The original poster on Instagram added a spoiler below about what was going on and who was involved!
It was recently reported by Deadline that the stars of the film would not go there due to COVID-19 concerns and cases rising on the island. With that in mind, it was more than likely Chris Pratt’s stunt man not the actor, but still it must have been very exciting to watch them film!
Twitter user Brycenator100 spotted another image from Malta showing there were at least two of these dinos in the film.
As I was looking around for more information, I’m seeing lots of speculation about what species this is exactly, since it doesn’t seem to be the same as the raptors in the other films. What do you think?
Edit to add: Brycentaor100 has been doing some great work on their Jurassic World Twitter account, coming up with a set video of what appears to be Chris Pratt’s stunt double on a moped being chased and having a close call with some cars.
And here are some more set images of some fake rock face and major destruction on a Navy helicopter, no doubt caused by one of the dinosaurs set loose on the Earth at the end of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.
Next week, Marvel’s Avengers will finally be released. It has been quite the ride since its initial announcement back in 2017. Looking back, it didn’t say much but we did get the first tease of the game’s story about reassembling the team. Now, three years later we got a reveal trailer, two war tables with one on the horizon and three weekends of testing out the Beta. Now, it’s only a few more days before we can play as our favorite Avengers. To celebrate the launch, Crystal Dynamics will even hold an additional War Table to reveal our first look at what post-launch content we can expect. It doesn’t even stop there, as now during Gamescom weekend, they also released a short CGI trailer to promote the game one last time.
Almost wished they showed this trailer a while back. We get a great heroic shot with the team before Ms. Marvel interrupts Cap’s speech. Everyone’s quirks are highlighted with a brief addition of showcasing a few players experiencing the game. Eagle-eyed viewers might even notice that one girl is wearing a She-Hulk shirt, who is one of the leaked DLC characters for the game.
It all comes to a confrontation with M.O.D.O.K. before it ends. This is the first time we get to see him in action since they revealed his true form. This trailer teases a lot of action and I almost hope that each new story expansion gets a brief trailer like this teasing the main antagonist. Only drawback, it makes me even more impatient to get my hands on the game.
Source: YouTube (2017), YouTube (2020)
Hard to believe that Mulan was originally going to air back in April. After all this time, the film will finally premiere on Disney+ next week. This time, however, it will only be available through the streaming services’ new add-on titled Premier Access. Anyone with an account can access the film but only if they pay an additional fee. It was promised that this wasn’t just going to be a rental but you would have access to it as long as you have your subscription. As such, we all assumed that it wouldn’t be made available on Disney+ for quite some time. Looks like our assumptions were wrong, as on European accounts the film was updated with a rather interesting tidbit.
As you can see, it clearly states that the film will be made available by December 4th for all Disney+ subscribers. This is huge, as it means that what you pay is to so you can see it early. Now it makes sense why Disney was so keen on confirming it wasn’t a rental and you’d have access to it as long as you are a subscriber. I mean, most of us expected the film to be made available at some point in the future. We compared this to other services internationally and there is no sight of it in the U.S. So far, this only seems to be confirmed for Europe.
Still, it is a surprise that it would premiere anytime this year. You’d think they’d try to get as many people to give Premier Access a try instead of knowing they can just wait a little bit longer. Plus, they have to make up for the lost Box Office numbers they would’ve made normally with a release in the cinema. This is an intriguing move which could also be a test to see if they can make use of this new function in the future. Instead of relying on other VOD services, they can offer an early access to recent films before rolling them out on the platform. It is also interesting to note that the recently released “one-week” video does not include this information. There is a good chance this was added only recently and won’t be actively advertised.
Alongside this update, we also got a look at brand new posters to highlight the film’s cast. Each one also includes the Premier Access branding for Disney+. No sign about it being available by December here either.
Source: Twitter (Video), Twitter (Cast)
Following the recent success of the the animated Star Trek spin-off, Star Trek: Lower Decks, The X-Files have once again been reopened in. The iconic franchise will get an animated spin-off. It is currently in development for FOX. This story will focus on a group of agents stationed in Albuquerque. So, it’s no wonder the show will be named The X-Files: Albuquerque.
The show will feature a group of agents who are given the cases that are too weird, ridiculous or even absurd for Mulder and Scully. Creator of the original series, Chris Carter, will return as the Executive Producer. Rocky Russo and Jeremy Sosenko are set to write the series and are also joining as executive producers. The show will be managed by Bento Box animation, whose previous works include Bob’s Burgers and Central Park. There is a good chance the animation style will be similar to their last projects.
The original X-Files ran for 9 seasons. It returned in 2016 for a revival with two more seasons until it ended in 2018. The show starred David Duchovny as Fox Mulder and Gillian Anderson as Special Agent Dana Scully,. They worked for the FBI and solved paranormal cases. It is currently unknown if either will reprise their roles for the animated spin-off. Little is known about the project, as no release date or casting has been announced. It will be interesting to see how this new interpretation will continue the legacy of the beloved science-fiction series.
Source: Variety
Earlier this year, Ant-Man 3 seemed to slide down the list of upcoming Marvel Studios films as it took on a new writer in Jeff Loveness. Other films appeared to cut in line and the COVID shuffle of Marvel’s slate didn’t include a release date for the threequel. According to a new report, the film might just make a 2022 release after all!
Yahoo Entertainment interviewed director Peyton Reed and dropped this little nugget in the piece:
It’s worth noting that this is not a direct quote from Reed or anyone at Marvel Studios, but it is the first indicator we have had about a potential date for the film. You should all know by now that in the age of COVID, no release date is safe, but this is still encouraging news. We recently shared the information that production on the project had been moved from “early 2021” to June which, given the rumored size and scope of the film, could have it ready for a Summer 2022 release!
There are those films that seem like they’ll be major hits but somehow end up missing the mark. Among them is the 1998 film Sphere. The novel-adaptation had everything going for it. It had quite the cast with Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone and Samuel L. Jackson headlining the project. Yet, the film flopped and was critically panned. It normally would be the end of a potential franchise. Now, after 22 years, HBO has shown interest in another attempt at adapting the 1987 Michael Crichton novel even after the original film bombed.
This is no small project either, as Westworld producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy are currently attached. They will be working alongside Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey‘s Team Downey. Denise Thé will act as showrunner for the project. This is noteworthy, as she is currently the showrunner of Westworld. Have to say, did not expect that their next project would be another Crichton adaptation. Going by their track record, we can expect some more existential crisis once we witness their version of the story.
Sphere tells the story of a group of scientists that explore thousand feet below the ocean. Under the ocean, they believe that they may have uncovered alien lifeforms in a spacecraft that crashed thousand of years ago. In their journey, they might uncover something much darker about human nature. It’s the perfect kind of story for the Westworld team to tackle, who also have a lot of experience with HBO. This is also Team Downey’s second project with the network after the Perry Mason reboot. This could be quite the dream team and we might have another suspenseful thriller on our hands.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes, Variety
