Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movie News

  • RUMOR: Marvel Studios Hoping to Start Production on ‘Blade’ in Early 2023

    RUMOR: Marvel Studios Hoping to Start Production on ‘Blade’ in Early 2023

    Just as many Marvel Cinematic Universe fans were on a high with the return of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, it seemed like another production was facing some turbulent times. The long-awaited Blade film has been continuously pushed back and is now seemingly in limbo. The film lost its director Bassam Tariq and Moon knight writer Beau DeMayo is on board to rewrite the script. Still, it seems Marvel Studios is still hopeful about getting the project off the ground sooner than later.

    According to Big Screen Leaks, Marvel is hoping to start production in early 2023. Of course,e that depends strongly if they find a director by then and can also get the script together. Film productions start without a finished script, but they’ll likely try to finish an outline that will help solidify the project, especially with Mahershala Ali already attached to play the role.

    https://twitter.com/bigscreenleaks/status/1574973513743863808

    It’s not been an easy road for this project, but there’s also a lot of hope to give the character the right treatment. Early castings already hinted at the project moving away from the 1998 version as they try to embrace his comic roots. Early storyline teases hinted that the film might take a more Gothic direction and explore the character during the 1920s. Though, if they are rewriting the script it is unclear if they will still stick to this original pitch. Either way, it’s better they take their time until the project is ready rather than rush it out and we’ll see who they might find as the new director.

    Source: Twitter

  • Sony Obtains Movie Rights to ‘Tarzan’

    Sony Obtains Movie Rights to ‘Tarzan’

    It looks like Tarzan will swing his way back into theaters, as Sony Pictures has officially acquired the rights to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ iconic character. They seemingly seek a “total reinvention” of intellectual property and might bring the iconic character into the modern era, though details remain under warps. It should be noted that they have no writer, director, or even producer attached to any project, as they only have acquired the rights and have not yet set anything else into motion for the project.

    Tarzan is no stranger to the silver screen, as the most recent project featured Alexander Skarsgard and Margot Robbie back in 2016. While the character is quite beloved, especially for the 1999 animated film by Disney and Phil Collins‘ iconic score, the book has been scrutinized for some of the ideas it places into the world. It hasn’t aged gracefully and there have been challenges in bringing it into the modern age.

    The interesting aspect about Sony acquiring the rights is that Tarzan technically is in both the private and public domain. It seems that what they mainly acquired was the trademark for the character of Tarzan, though the exact details of the deal are uncertain as of now. Still, it looks like Sony is trying to get its hands on more IPs to keep up with other studios and quite interesting to see how they might bring this character into he 21st century.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Avatar 2’ Eyeing $650M Domestic Run, Unlikely to Dehtrone ‘Top Gun Maverick’

    ‘Avatar 2’ Eyeing $650M Domestic Run, Unlikely to Dehtrone ‘Top Gun Maverick’

    While there have been many discussions surrounding the slow recovery of the box office since the pandemic started back in 2020, there have been some massive successes even through these unpredictable times. Spider-Man: No Way Home and Top Gun: Maverick went on to break far past any expectations set on the projects, and there has been a lot of hope that Avatar: The Way of Water would do exactly the same later this year. It’s the first sequel to James Cameron‘s passion project from 2009. While the film is set to make a big splash in the box office, it may not surpass its predecessor.

    Variety’s early predictions based on Cinelytic believe that The Way of Water is likely to make around $650M but likely won’t come near the first Avatar‘s $772M. The reasonings are quite simple. A lot has happened since that film was released and we’ve seen quite a few CG-heavy worlds being created. So, it’s no longer as unique as it once was, as we’ve entered an era inspired by the technology that was established through that film’s release.

    If it does end up going below $700M, it’ll also remain in the second spot for 2022, as Top Gun: Maverick managed to pass the $700M mark not too long ago and still continues to have a strong staying power at the box office. Black Panther Wakanda Forever was predicted to not even make it past the $500M mark but early projections for the Top Gun sequel also had it set for a lower $300M box office run. At this rate, there are a lot of unpredictable elements at play and we’ll have to see how the rest of the year turns out with very little hitting the market moving forward.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Black Adam’ May Not Make as Much as ‘The Batman’ at the Domestic Box Office

    ‘Black Adam’ May Not Make as Much as ‘The Batman’ at the Domestic Box Office

    Dwayne Johnson is about to change the power dynamic in the DC Extended Universe as Warner Bros. Discovery seemingly dismantles itself from within. Still, there’s a lot riding on the upcoming Black Adam project, as it’s the last major release for the studio this year. As they are facing financial troubles and Don’t Worry Darling isn’t doing as hoped either, there’s a lot of money riding on their next superhero project set to release in late October. Yet, it seems that current predictions don’t see it making as big of a splash as the March release, The Batman.

    According to Variety and an analysis by Cinelytics, Black Adam is likely to pull in around $328M domestically. While Johnson is quite the box office draw, he still is playing a rather obscure character in the DC universe that is also hoping to bank on some familiarity with the legacy characters of the Justice Society of America. The property is untested and with the hope to build a bunch of spinoffs from this one film, there’s some concern on just how well it’ll perform. If these projection turns out to be true, the film is likely to make less than The Batman and Thor: Love and Thunder.

    It should not be downplayed as it’s a strong turn-in for a new property to pass $300M domestically. Plus, it’s being compared to one of the most well-established characters in pop culture and the first fourth entry of a Marvel Cinematic Universe film. If it makes its budget back and gains a profit, it’ll be a win for Warner Bros. either way but the question remains just how profitable do they expect this film to be. If it doesn’t make a “big enough” splash for the execs, they may also not be too happy with its results. Luckily, there’s still some time and who knows how things turn out once marketing starts pushing harder ahead of its release.

    Source: Variety

  • Robert Egger’s ‘Nosferatu’ Picks Up Steam as it Finds New Cast

    Robert Egger’s ‘Nosferatu’ Picks Up Steam as it Finds New Cast

    There were a lot of theories hitting the web when Robert Eggers‘ Northman didn’t quite become the massive box office success that many expected it to be. It still went on to make its money back through its physical and digital releases, which also seemingly boosted the chances of the director to realize his passion project, a new take on the iconic 1922 film Nosferatu. Deadline has revealed that not only is it gaining momentum, it even found a brand new cast to take on the leading roles.

    It seems that Bill Skarsgard and Lily-Rose Depp are now set to star in the film for Focus Features. They are replacing original stars Harry Styles and Anya Taylor-Joy when it was set to film in 2019 for Studio 8. The project was originally going to be tackled before he took his turn at telling a Viking-based story but due to budget calculations, it was put on hold. It seems he wasn’t always going to return to the project as he looked at others but still wanted to explore the gothic tale.

    It seems that Focus joining was the reason he settled on bringing his passion project to life. It seems he started meeting with talent right after and Skarsgard would take on the role of the 19th-century monster even when his previous cast was already attached. It seems he swiftly ensured he’d get time to join the project but Taylor-Joy was too busy to find time in her schedule, which led to Depp getting the role.

    Source: Deadline

  • Six Seasons…and a Movie! ‘Community’ Film Officially in Development at Peacock

    Six Seasons…and a Movie! ‘Community’ Film Officially in Development at Peacock

    After having long been prophesied, the concept of “six seasons and a movie” for Community will officially be completed. Aftering having aired over 100 episodes between 2009 and 2015, the Peacock streaming service has ordered a feature film to serve as a finale to the sitcom franchise. This comes after an extensive bidding war amongst various streamers to acquire the rights to said film. The full series library will also be moving to Peacock on a non-exclusive basis.

    Dan Harmon will return to write the final film alongside Andrew Guest. Meanwhile, numerous stars of the original series are slated to return. This includes the likes of Joel McHale, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, Jim Rash, and Ken Jeong. There is no official word on original starring cast members who left the series during its run such as Donald Glover, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Chevy Chase. Though it’s probable none of them will have a significant role in the film (especially Chase, due to his contentious exit from the series after the fourth season).

    Community initially released in 2009 on NBC as a compatriot with shows such as The Office, Parks & Rec, and 30 Rock. Though after fledgling ratings, its sixth and final season aired on the now-defunct Yahoo! Screen service. While never receiving the television rating acclaim of the other three sitcom stalwarts, the genre-bending comedy has maintained a strong niche fanbase. The news of the closing film is certainly bound to draw mass excitement from audiences and be a major driving force for the young Peacock streaming service.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Hocus Pocus 2’: Bette Midler Discusses the Long-Gestating Sequel

    ‘Hocus Pocus 2’: Bette Midler Discusses the Long-Gestating Sequel

    Rumors of a sequel to the 1993 cult classic Halloween film Hocus Pocus swirled for the better part of a decade. Over those years, star Bette Midler was often right in the mix with fans in pushing for the sequel and at one point made it clear she wouldn’t be interested in anything less than a true follow-up, refusing to take part in a remake of the original in 2017. Finally, in October of 2019, Hocus Pocus 2 got the green light at Disney, and a year later Midler, along with co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, were on board to reprise their roles as the Sanderson sisters.

    According to Midler, however, despite how well-loved the original film is and all the rumors, speculation and fan support for a sequel, she wasn’t so sure that Hocus Pocus 2 would ever really happen. During the global press conference held following the film’s premiere, Midler admitted she didn’t truly believe the day would come when the sequel would come together.

    I didn’t until the day finally came. And then I realized, oh, we’re really gonna do this. This was kind of a dream come true, it really was. I mean, I’ve been, I don’t want to say, agitating but kind of like after I realized it was actually a phenomenon, I started asking people around my age and people like that, don’t you think they would be interested in a sequel? This was a long time ago. This was like 15 years ago, something like that. So here we are.

    Bette Midler

    Midler’s passion for the project certainly kept a potential sequel from dying in development hell. And given the film’s ending and post-credit scene, it’s possible that Hocus Pocus 2 won’t be the last film in what could well become a Disney Halloween franchise.

    Hocus Pocus 2 is now streaming on Disney Plus.

  • REPORT: ‘X-Men ’97’ Head Writer to Rewrite ‘Blade’ from Scratch

    REPORT: ‘X-Men ’97’ Head Writer to Rewrite ‘Blade’ from Scratch

    Just yesterday, Illuminerdi was sharing some insight into what may be initial plot details on what the future has in store for Mahershala Ali‘s take on Blade. It hinted that we’d explore the 1920s with Eric Brooks potentially taking on European vampires. Yet, it seems that current developments may push the project into completely new directions, especially after losing director Bassam Tariq. As we shared earlier this week, there were enough hints that Moon Knight writer and X-Men ’97 head writer Beau DeMayo may be attached to give the project a few rewrites. Now it seems like he’s heavier involved than expected.

    While Stacy Osei-Kuffour was attached to write the initial script, DeMayo has potentially now joined the production to rewrite the script from scratch. While covering the news on the first story hints, The Direct reveals that according to their sources he is currently set to overhaul the entire movie from scratch. As such, we might expect them to invest quite a bit more time before they’ll enter production if he truly is that heavily involved moving forward.

    It seems that his work on Moon Knight and the upcoming X-Men revival series impressed Marvel Studios quite a bit, inspiring their move to have him lead the project. It’s not uncommon that this happens with these types of projects, as Deadpool 3 famously also saw Bob’s Burgers‘ Wendy and Lizzie Molyneux get replaced by the franchise’s original writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick after some initial scripts were already pitched. The only question remains who exactly may take over as director for this project and how he may also lend his voice to the project moving forward.

    Source: The Direct

  • Universal Developing a New ‘American Pie’ Movie

    Universal Developing a New ‘American Pie’ Movie

    Universal is looking to bring back American Pie. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Definition Please filmmaker Sujata Day has signed on to helm a new American Pie movie. Day will write and direct the film which is said to be a fresh take based on her original pitch to the studio.

    Day is perhaps best known for her role as Sarah on HBO’s Insecure. However, she recently begun to turn her talents to behind the camera. Her directorial debut, Definition Please, in which she also starred, won the grand jury award for best narrative feature at San Francisco CAAM Fest. The film was acquired by Ava DuVernay’s Array banner and is now available to stream on Netflix. Prior to Definition Please, Day directed the YouTube Series, This Is My Story, featuring LeVar Burton.

    American Pie was released in 1999 and quickly proved to be a success, amassing $225 million worldwide on an $11 million budget. It spawned two sequels, as well as a direct to video franchise titled American Pie Presents, currently consisting of five titles. As of now, the latest American Pie film has no release date, nor has any of the cast been announced.

    Source: THR.

  • Marvel Studios Developing ‘Armor Wars’ as a Movie Instead of Disney+ Series

    Marvel Studios Developing ‘Armor Wars’ as a Movie Instead of Disney+ Series

    Ever since it was officially announced, fans have eagerly been awaiting news regarding Marvel Studios’ Armor Wars. The project was to be made into a Disney+ series, however, outside of Yassir Lester being announced as the head writer, very little news seemed to surface regarding the project. Lester and leading man, Don Cheadle, assured fans it was coming, though, and now it appears we might have a reason as to why the project is moving so slowly.

    The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Marvel Studios is developing Armor Wars as a feature film instead of a Disney+ series. Both Lester and Cheadle remain on board the project. The project is being redeveloped into a feature film, which is more than likely why Armor Wars still lacked a release window during Marvel Studios’ D23 presentation. The decision was made as Marvel felt the best way to tell the story was through a feature film rather than a television series. Production on the six-episode series was expected to begin in early 2023, however, crew members were said to be notified today that is no longer happening.

    The title of the series was inspirited by a storyline in the Iron Man comics from 1987 and 1988 by writers David Michelinie and Bob Layton and artist Mark Bright. It focused on the highly advanced technology of Iron Man falling into the wrong hands.

    As of now, Armor Wars does not have a release date or director attached to the project.

    Source: THR.