Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movie News

  • ‘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

  • James Cameron on the Decision to Re-Release ‘Avatar’

    James Cameron on the Decision to Re-Release ‘Avatar’

    After numerous setbacks, Avatar‘s long-awaited sequel, The Way of the Water, is finally set to hit theaters this December. However, before The Way of the Water finally hits the big screen, Avatar is set to return for a limited run in 3D. While this won’t be the first time Avatar has been re-released into theaters, there’s a good reason behind this re-release. During a virtual press conference to promote the re-release, writer and director James Cameron explained why they’ve decided to release the film again.

    Well, look, I mean, it’s been, you know, 12 years since the release, and so basically if you’re kind of under 22 or 23 years of age, it’s very, very unlikely that you’ve seen the film in a movie theater.  Which in a way kinda means you haven’t seen the film.  I mean, we authored the film for the big screen, for the giant screen, in 3D.  And now we’ve remastered it in 4K, in high-dynamic range and some 48-frame-per-second sections in the film.

    James Cameron

    Released in 2009, Avatar has gone on to become one of the most successful films of all time. The film focused on a paraplegic Marine who is sent to the moon Pandora on a mission but soon finds himself feeling torn between his orders and protecting the place he believes to be his true home. Avatar managed to amass an astounding haul of $2.743 billion at the worldwide box office. $749.7 million of that came from the states, while the other $1.993 million came from international markets. The film remains the highest-grossing movie of all time.

    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.

  • Brie Larson Offers Glimpse Into Her ‘Fast X’ Role

    Brie Larson Offers Glimpse Into Her ‘Fast X’ Role

    Just recently, Brie Larson has been on a high promoting her upcoming Marvel film The Marvels, which will see her once again return to the role of Captain Marvel alongside some new co-stars. That isn’t the only big production she’s currently involved with, as she also has a big role in the latest Fast and Furious entry, Fast X.

    Little is still known about her character and it seems that the actress wanted to offer a little glimpse behind-the-scenes with the reveal of her character’s name. It seems she’ll be playing someone named Tess and that is sadly all she’s willing to let us know in regards to her role in Fast X.

    Brie Larson has gone through quite a bit since her jump to stardom as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it’ll be interesting to see how the reactions will be when she joins another major project like this. She’s definitely powered through it, as showcased in some recent postings poking fun at the reactions from the D23 panel.

    There’s a lot of drama already surrounding the project. Fast X‘s production has been quite chaotic early on as Justin Lin, it’s initial director, left the film shortly after they got the cameras rolling. There was teases that there were a lot of conflicts between Lin and the franchise’s main star Vin Diesel. They were able to add Louis Leterrier as its new director, but it definitely must’ve left some sour taste during the production of the tenth entry.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘The Woman King’ Dominates the Weekend Box Office as ‘Barbarian’ Shows Strong Hold

    ‘The Woman King’ Dominates the Weekend Box Office as ‘Barbarian’ Shows Strong Hold

    Here’s some great news as The Woman King has taken the weekend. Not only did it pull in $19M with strong word-of-mouth but also nabbed the rare A+ CinemaScore from General Audiences. It’s quite the boost after taking in $1.7M in previews. In a market dominated by high-octane action flicks like Marvel and this year’s stand-out Top Gun: Maverick, it offered something quite unique.

    Production wasn’t easy on the film, so it’s exhilarating for everyone involved to see its current success. The movie could still end the weekend with more than $19M as Sony hopes to see an additional boost in churchgoing audiences that’ll head to cinemas, which is currently predicted to end with around $5M. Given the film’s little, women were also the majority viewers with 60% and an older demographic; a good sign for non-four quadrant productions moving forward.

    Taking second place is Barbarian, which is holding quite well with a 40% drop and pulling in $6.3M. Disney was smart to bring this film to theaters even if it could’ve done the same with a few other productions throughout the year. A24’s Pearl has also opened and gotten a TIFF boost, as it pulled in $3.124M which is slightly below Ti West‘s previous entry with X, but still mighty impressive considering its low budget.

    Source: Twitter, Deadline

  • BREAKING: Keanu Reeves to Reunite With Francis Lawrence for ‘Constantine’ Sequel

    BREAKING: Keanu Reeves to Reunite With Francis Lawrence for ‘Constantine’ Sequel

    Here’s something you may have never guessed: Keanu Reeves is set to once again take on the role of Constantine in an upcoming sequel. He’ll reunite with director Francis Lawrence who helmed the original 2005 adaptation of the popular DC character. Akiva Goldsman is writing the screenplay and is also producing through Weed Road Pictures. J.J. Abrams and Hannah Minghella are also attached to produce the sequel of a film that was released 17 years ago.

    There were rumblings around 2020 that they might be interested in doing a sequel but when Abrams started working on his Justice League Dark universe with its own take on John Constantine it seemed like they moved on from the project. The character has seen a resurgence in popularity with an NBC series starring Matt Ryan who would, later on, join the CW’s Arrowverse, and even with The Sandman‘s Johanna Constantine, who was played by Jenna Coleman.

    It’ll be interesting to see what this entry means for Abrams series, as it might have quietly been canceled. There’s also the fact that this once again muddles the “a united DC Cinematic Universe” strategy of Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav. Without any new leadership to map out the project, it seems they’ve been busy mapping out various projects that have no direct connection with each other.

    Either way, this is a great surprise for those that have been longing for a sequel and it’s always great to see Reeves return to a role he loved dearly. There’s no exact window yet on when we might expect the project to release but with Lawrence‘s busy schedule there might still be some time before it releases.

    Source: Deadline

  • Sony Delays ‘Madame Web’ and ‘Kraven the Hunter’ Release Dates

    Sony Delays ‘Madame Web’ and ‘Kraven the Hunter’ Release Dates

    It looks like we’ll have to wait just a little longer for the upcoming Marvel projects from Sony, as they have now pushed back quite a few releases. While they’ve also updated their upcoming schedule to include a new Karate Kid film, which we exclusively revealed just last month, and the sequel to Searching titled Missing (here’s hoping the third one is named Finding), it seems their various Marvel films have also been delayed.

    Kraven the Hunter is now eyeing a release on October 6th, 2023, quite a few months away from its initial January 13th release date that same year. It took over Madame Web‘s original release which is now scheduled for 2024 on February 16th. Both films are set to also screen in IMAX. The delay also affected one of its untitled Marvel films which were initially planned for June 7th, 2025 but it is now a July release. Some have theorized this might be the next Spider-Man MCU entry, but there hasn’t been an announcement so far.

    Sony is still moving forward with its projects even after Morbius didn’t quite make it the first two rounds it attempted in theaters. It’s uncertain how their relationship stands with Marvel and what the future has in store for Spider-Man. We haven’t heard anything about a new trilogy or even if the character will appear in Sony’s own universe. There are a lot of unknown variables at the moment and we can only hope that an update isn’t too far away.

    Source: Deadline

  • CONFIRMED: Sony Moving Ahead With a New ‘Karate Kid’ Movie

    CONFIRMED: Sony Moving Ahead With a New ‘Karate Kid’ Movie

    Back in August, we exclusively revealed that Sony Pictures was moving ahead with a new Karate Kid movie. Now, the studio has officially announced a release date for the untitled Karate Kid movie, which is being called a return to the original franchise. Per the outlet, the new Karate Kid movie will hit theaters on June 7th, 2024. While no further details were made available, it’s expected that the kid will serve as the teacher in this new installment.

    From what we could gather, the new film will center on a teenage boy named Li. The young student is said to be small for his age, but tough, smart and scrappy. Li is said to be a skilled fighter and a student in Beijing who finds his life uprooted after his mother moves them to Brooklyn, New York. After meeting Mia, a student from his high school, and her father, Victor, at a local pizza restaurant, he’ll soon find his life has changed yet again – for the better.

    It’s interesting to see how The Karate Kid has become a franchise of its own over the years. Netflix has seen a lot of success with the spinoff series Cobra Kai which further explored the characters from the original films by taking a closer look at where they are all these years later. This isn’t even the first remake of the film as Jaden Smith had the leading role opposite Jackie Chan back in 2010, which didn’t pick up as much momentum as the original did.

    With Cobra Kai going into its sixth season, it remains to be seen whether or not that series will tie back into the new Karate Kid film. However, with a release date set, perhaps we’ll soon learn more about the newest installment.

    Source: Deadline.

  • Marvel Studios “Taking a New Approach” With Shira Haas’ Sabra In Response to Online Backlash

    Marvel Studios “Taking a New Approach” With Shira Haas’ Sabra In Response to Online Backlash

    Not surprising given the recent releases, the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe film is surrounded by controversy online but this time it’s for a different reason than you’d think. During D23, the character of Sabra was introduced and would be played by Shira Haas in the upcoming film Captain America: New World Order. Given the Israel and Palestine conflict, this has led to quite the controversy in addition to the “New World Order” having been used for anti-semites online.

    The controversy took its hold online in certain circles and has now led to an official statement by Marvel Studios through an article for The New York Times. It seems that they’ew highlighting that they are “taking a new approach” with the character of Sabra.

    While our characters and stories are inspired by the comics. They are always freshly imagined for the screen and today’s audience, and the filmmakers are taking a new approach with the character Sabra who was first introduced in the comics over 40 years ago

    It’s hard to say if this jump may have been an assumption on the character’s comic history and Marvel simply wanted to take an existing character to put it in a better spotlight, moving away from its original rather questionable storyline.

    In many ways, this was a lose-lose situation for Marvel even if they tried to pull through with it, as reactions occurred before a single glimpse of the actual story came to light. As they haven’t started production yet, it still gave them a chance to maybe tweak a few elements and this statement also serves to hint at that happening.

    There’s more to this controversy given the history surrounding the name. Many have made the connection to the Sabra and Shatila massacre when it was first announced. So, while the name was carried over from the comics, it has become associated with a terrible act that occurred in Lebanon back in 1982. We’ll have to see how they tackle this challenge once more news surfaces.

    Source: The New York Times via The Direct

  • ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ Gets a Theatrical Release

    ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ Gets a Theatrical Release

    Originally developed as an HBO Max original movie, it looks Magic Mike is taking to the big screen once again. Deadline reports that Magic Mike’s Last Dance is officially heading to theaters on February 10th, 2023 — just in time for Valentine’s Day and Super Bowl weekend. The date is one Warner Bros. Discovery already had on its schedule.

    Unfortunately, those hoping for a day-and-date release will be disappointed. The outlet reports there will be a window between theatrical and HBO Max, with PVOD in between. The move shouldn’t be too surprising as Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has made it clear he’d rather get films into theaters than develop them for HBO Max. And while never a huge franchise, the Magic Mike films did pull in an impressive amount, having grossed a combined $285.6 million at the global box. While that number might seem on the lower end, it’s important to note these films were produced for $7 million and $14 million, respectively.

    Magic Mike’s Last Dance stars Channing Tatum, Salma Hayek, Caitlin Gerard and Gavin Spokes. The film was written by Reid Carolin and directed by Steven Soderbergh. Gregory Jacobs, who directed Magic Mike XXL, is on board as a producer this time around.

    Source: Deadline.

  • RUMOR: Joaquin Phoenix May Not Be the Lead of DC’s ‘Joker’ Sequel

    RUMOR: Joaquin Phoenix May Not Be the Lead of DC’s ‘Joker’ Sequel

    There have been a lot of questions surrounding the upcoming sequel of Todd Phillips‘ Joker. Not only did many scratch their head at the idea, but it became even more astounding when it was teased to be a musical. Then Lady Gaga was announced as part of the cast and hinted to be taking on the role of Harley Quinn. Now a new rumor may be hinting at a unique direction for the sequel.

    Now, The Weekly Planet’s latest podcast episode has maybe hinted that while the sequel Joker: Folie à Deux still keeps the jester in its title, it won’t be from his perspective. Rather, host James Clement hinted that the project is actually from Dr. Harleen Quinzell’s view, who seemingly sees her romance as a musical that results in the way it’s told.

    Apparently, Joker 2 isn’t so much a Joker movie, it’s a Harley Quinn… It’s from Harley Quinn’s perspective. And the reason it’s a musical is because that’s how she perceives her relationship with Joker.

    James Clement

    It’s definitely an interesting direction o take the sequel nd would make it stand out from its predecessor. Not an uncommon move from Pixar to turn its main star into a side character in the sequel, but there’s a chance this move is mostly that they could have parts switch between perspectives. There’s a chance that we’ll see it from her views when it turns into am musical and the usual ark reality when we switch to Joker, or perhaps we learn how he might see the world in a new light since the last film. We can only speculate for now.

    Source: Weekly Planet via The Direct