Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movie News

  • ‘Birds of Prey’s Cathy Yan to Adapt Tasutaka Tsutsui’s ‘Paprika’ in Live-Action

    ‘Birds of Prey’s Cathy Yan to Adapt Tasutaka Tsutsui’s ‘Paprika’ in Live-Action

    It looks like Paprika is about to make its return but this time in live-action. Based on the novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui, the novel was famously turned into a film by animation director Satoshi Kon. To this day, it acts as a big inspiration to many directors and it seems that Birds of Prey director Cathy Yan will tackle

    Deadline reveals that Amazon Studios and Hivemind are producing with Yan also taking on an executive producer role. It’ll bring the sci-fi and mind-bending classic to live-action which explores a technology that allows one to invade other people’s dreams. So, if you haven’t seen the animated film you’ll likely not expect just how it plays around with the concept.

    Ash Sarohia is also set to join as executive producer under the Rewild Banner alongside Masi Oka, and Jason F. Brown. Given how the last adaptation by Kon used animation to create a mind-bending experience, it’ll definitely be curious how it may make use of the new format. There’s something magical about exploring dreams that even Christopher Nolan took inspiration from when he brought Inception to life.

    an has been on a high-streak as she won an Emmy for her work on Succession, which also was her first time directing a series. She famously gave us an adaptation of Birds of Prey with Harley Quinn as the leading role and is also working on her next feature film, The Freshening.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ Release Date Confirmed

    ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’ Release Date Confirmed

    Fans of Knives Out will have something additional to look forward to this coming holiday season. It has officially been confirmed that Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery will be released worldwide on December 23 on Netflix and in select theaters. 

    Very little is currently known about what Rian Johnson has in store for his next installment beyond the notion of Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc returning to the screen to solve an entirely new mystery. It has been confirmed that this upcoming film will significantly deviate from the sleepy, sweater-heavy New England autumn aesthetic, and instead will be set in Mediterranean Greece. Much like the original Knives Out film, Glass Onion will be host to an all-star cast of well-respected Hollywood stars. The ensemble for this mystery will include the likes of Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr, Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista.

    When Johnson officially revealed the title of the new film, he also took time to speak about his inspiration from Agatha Christie’s novels and the large umbrella of themes and concepts she used within the mystery genre. Rian Johnson has confirmed then that this type of individuality between Glass Onion and Knives Out as mysteries will be an important facet of the franchise. The director has also provided insight into what that means for this upcoming film.

    Blanc was always outside of the sphere of our protagonist and was a little bit more of an enigma in the first movie. Whereas, in this one, Blanc gets an invitation to come to this murder mystery on this island. We’re very much meeting these people and getting into this world through his eyes.

    Rian Johnson

    It certainly will be interesting to follow how Daniel Craig’s Blanc will be defined in this role as the more overt protagonist in Glass Onion.

    Source: Rolling Stone

  • ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Disney Premiere on Disney+ Day

    ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Disney Premiere on Disney+ Day

    While many are pulling back from the 45-day release window, Disney is seemingly still sticking to a shorter theatrical run before it hits Disney+. Of course, the upcoming Disney+ Day also adds fuel to the fire as they aim to celebrate and it seems Thor: Love and Thunder will be part of the celebration.

    In a new ad for Disney+ Day, we got the confirmation that the latest Marvel film will indeed premiere on the app on September 8th. It’ll join other exclusive releases such as a live-action remake of Pinocchio.

    It’s great to see them make the day stand our with these additions and it’s the second time a Marvel film gets added. Last year, they did the same thing with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings being the major addition to celebrate Disney+ Day.

    That wasn’t all as we even got the IMAX versions of existing films before they announced various new projects heading to the service. We’ll see what surprises they might have in store as we inch closer to the event.

    Source: YouTube

  • New ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Merch Offers First Look at Spider-Punk

    New ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Merch Offers First Look at Spider-Punk

    With the delay of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘s releases, we’ve gotten quite a few hits or rather leaks through the various merchandise from the project. Not only did we get a first look at a Cyborg Spider-Woman but even Ben Reilly showed up in the upcoming animated sequel. Now, the tradition continues as the latest merchandise has offered a first look at Spider-Punk’s design. As shared by Twitter user @_Ben_Reilly, it looks like they’ll continue the tradition of each new Spidey member getting a unique design from their universe.

    It does seem how these characters are lined-up that they’re also the new “team” for this film. It’s sad we might not see any of the others like Spiider-Man Noir or Spider-Pig potentially making a return, but there’s quite the chance we will. They also likely don’t want to reveal every character that has a role, as we’ve also not seen any sign of Peter B. Parker, who was a major player in the original release.

    It is fun to see that they are continuing to play around with the animation medium, and Miles Morales’ Spider-Man venturing beyond his own reality gives them that perfect opportunity. Here’s hoping we get some very creative Spider-Verse surprises that make the experience stand out from the previous one, which already has quite the emotional story.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero’ Opens to $20M+ in the US

    ‘Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero’ Opens to $20M+ in the US

    The weekend has gone quite different for Universal, as their latest release, Beast starring Idris Elba was overtaken by the Japanese anime film, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. The film ends its weekend with around $20.1M+ at the US box office, which could even go higher once Sunday wraps up. According to Crunchyroll, the sequel is the best global opening ever for an anime film.

    Tetsuro Kodama is in the director’s chair based on a story by the series creator Akira Toriyama, it is the 21st entry in the Dragon Ball cinematic franchise. The last time we saw a film from it was back in 2018 focused on a new adaptation of Broly. This time around, they went with a CG-animated style with Toei Animation producing it.

    To put into comparison, Broly opened to $9.8M domestically, which the latest release managed to double. Baltasar Kormakur’s Beast, on the other end, opened to $11.6M which is still part of its tracking and joins the ever-increasing B CinemaScore club of 2022.

    It’s quite interesting that it was overtaken with barely any new competition in the market. Top Gun: Maverick is still performing incredibly well and Thor: Love and Thunder has picked up the pace even with a harsher drop like its predecessors. Bullet Train has still been holding on and A24’s Bodies Bodies Bodies remained in the top ten. August is quite empty but it seems the projects are still holding on quite well.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Overtakes ‘Infinity War’ as Sixth-Highest Grossing Movie

    ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Overtakes ‘Infinity War’ as Sixth-Highest Grossing Movie

    After nearly three months in release, the Tom Cruise-led Top Gun: Maverick has achieved yet another milestone. As of this weekend, Maverick has overtaken Avengers: Infinity War to become the sixth-highest grossing movie of all time.

    Top Gun: Maverick has officially hit $679 million at the North American box office. That’s enough to surpass Infinity War‘s $678 million domestic haul. The sequel to Top Gun, which released in 1986, once seemed like a risk. After all, while Cruise is a household name, the actor was never a huge box office draw. However, the positive word of mouth has continued to push Maverick to new heights. It remains to be seen whether the film can surpass Black Panther, which earned $700.4 million during its theatrical run, to become the fifth-highest grossing film of all time.

    Internationally, Maverick has surpassed $700 million, which is all the more impressive because it has not been released in China or Russia. The film has earned $95 million from the United Kingdom alone and another $82 million from Japan. The film opened over Memorial Day weekend with a record setting $160.5 million opening, giving Cruise his first $100 million+ opening in a single weekend.

    Top Gun: Maverick will be released digitally on Aug. 23rd before hitting home video on Nov. 1st.

    Source: Variety.

  • Early ‘Multiverse of Madness’ Concept Art Shows Unused Designs for Nightmare

    Early ‘Multiverse of Madness’ Concept Art Shows Unused Designs for Nightmare

    There’s the Multiverse of Madness that was. There’s also the Multiverse of Madness that never was. After initially returning to helm the sequel, Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson left the project early in 2020. Michael Waldron came on to rewrite the script and Sam Raimi took over as director and the film that premiered in May of 2022 was vastly different than the one Derrickson originally set out to make.

    Dating back to his original pitch for the first Doctor Strange film, Derrickson had been trying to find a way to include one of the Sorcerer Supreme’s classic comic book villains, Nightmare, into a story. Now, thanks to newly released concept art from Ryan De Silva, fans can get a look at some early designs of Nightmare, who Derrickson had intended to use as the villain of the sequel.

    The designs indicate that Nightmare was set to be the villain, rather than the Scarlet Witch, though the film was still set throughout the multiverse. Now that there’s proof that Nightmare was the intended villain, it would be incredibly interesting to find out exactly how Derrickson hoped to use the Lord of Dreams while exploring the multiverse. As it stands, fans of the character, including Derrickson, will have to hold out hope that the villain will find another way into the MCU.

    Source: Deviant Art

  • ‘She-Hulk’ Writer Reveals Rejected Pitch For ‘Black Widow’ Movie

    ‘She-Hulk’ Writer Reveals Rejected Pitch For ‘Black Widow’ Movie

    Jessica Gao has officially joined the Marvel fold as the head writer on She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, but it seems it’s not the first time she’s tried getting in the door. During a recent interview with The Wrap, the former Rick & Morty creative revealed her first pitch to Marvel Studios was actually for the Black Widow movie. Of course, Gao didn’t end up getting the job, but if she had, it seems the film would have played out dramatically different than what audiences actually saw. According to Gao, her pitch revolves around Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff having to attend a high-stakes high school reunion with people who knew her as someone else. She elaborated:

    It was basically a ‘Grosse Pointe Blank’ story for Black Widow… basically you find out that in high school, as a teenage spy/Russian agent, she was planted at an American high school, because she had to assassinate someone’s dad and then 20 years later, she goes back to the high school reunion and has to deal with the fallout of this fake identity where she betrayed all these people in high school.

    Jessica Gao

    The pitch feels more like a She-Hulk story than it does a Black Widow one, and Gao believes that’s exactly why she eventually got the gig she did. The writer says she also pitched concepts for Shang-Chi and Captain Marvel, and while none of those worked out, they did allow her to spend some quality time with Marvel big wigs like Kevin Feige. She explained:

    I’m a big believer that every opportunity you miss is actually setting you up for something else… I truly believe that I didn’t get any of those three Marvel movie jobs because it was building to this point. Because what it really did for me is every single time that I pitched to Kevin [Feige], and Lou [D’Esposito] and Victoria [Alonso], and Brad [Winterbaum], I get to spend an hour with him, and I get to shoot the shit and hang out and chat…

    Jessica Gao

    Hanging out with important people can sometimes have good side effects, as Gao continued:

    Each time, they got to know me more, I got to know them more. By the time I came into pitch ‘She-Hulk,’ I think they had a very good sense of what my sense of humor was. They had a good sense of what type of writer I was, what kind of story I built. They just had a very good indication of what I’m about. I think that that really helped sell it, because they weren’t coming into me cold. They already talked to me so many times, they understood the quirks and nuances and the little things that I really infuse into everything.

    Jessica Gao

    While that Black Widow film would never be, it’s good to see that Marvel kept giving a talent like Gao the opportunity to pitch and collaborate. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is now streaming on Disney+, and while it has yet to feature a high school reunion, it does have a lot of Gao’s signature sense of humor.

    Source: The Direct

  • Sega Working on ‘Comix Zone’ and ‘Space Channel 5’ Film Adaptations

    Sega Working on ‘Comix Zone’ and ‘Space Channel 5’ Film Adaptations

    It seems like Sega has already found its next projects, as they are joining forces with Picturestart, who worked on Cha Cha Real Smooth and Am I Ok? to develop films based on two iconic 1990s games. It seems that they’ve decided to explore adaptations from their more cult favorites with Space Channel 5 and Comix Zone next on their list. There’s no word on a director or even writer for any of these projects, but they seemingly are in the process of getting their teams together. Still, it seems Hollywood Reporter did get its hands on how they’ll adapt these stories.

    Space Channel 5 will be a comedy adaptation of the 1999 game, seemingly titled Channel 5. It’ll follow the story of a fast-food employee turned reporter to save the future from aliens. With the help of viral dances, it’ll make saving the universe an easy task that’s only dependent on the beat. It’ll be interesting if they’ll keep the visual style from the original. There’s no word if the protagonist will be Ulala. It recently returned with a new VR variation of the game.

    Comix Zone is a very different story, which may only be titled Zone, as it’ll follow the jaded comic book writer and a queer writer of color, who end up getting trapped in the final issue of his comic book. They will have to work together to take down a supervillain as it explores the way storytelling has evolved over the years.

    It’s great to see Sony also adapt some cult classics, especially ones as visually unique as Comix Zone and Space Channel 5. If they already have stories prepared, it does seem likely that they have writers on board and are further along in preparing these new projects. Of course, without an official confirmation, we won’t know for sure, but we also heard a long time ago that a Yakuza film is in some form of development. We’ll have to see what releases first besides Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter

  • Ryan Gosling in Negotiations for ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ Prequel

    Ryan Gosling in Negotiations for ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ Prequel

    Ryan Gosling is seemingly set to reunite with his Barbie co-star Margot Robbie in a film set within the Warner Bros Ocean’s Eleven franchise. The film is set to be directed by Jay Roach with the script being written by Carrie Solomon. The project has not yet been greenlit by the Warner Bros Discovery executive team, but they are targeting an early 2023 start of production should things come together. Word from insiders has been that this project will be a prequel film set in the 1960s covering a heist transpiring somewhere in Europe.

    The Ocean’s Eleven franchise technically stemmed from the generally maligned 1960 film of the same name starring Frank Sinatra and various members of the infamous “Rat Pack.” However, the more recognizable history of the film series began with Steven Soderbergh’s reboot in 2001 which boasted an A-list cast including George Clooney and Brad Pitt. This was followed by two sequels with the original creative team and then 2018’s female-centric Ocean’s Eight starring Sandra Bullock. Though the potential 1960’s European setting of this new film would provide a distinct difference from any of its predecessors.

    Ryan Gosling is currently is set to star alongside Emily Blunt in Universal’s David Leitch-helmed action film The Fall Guy. That film is set to open in theaters in May of 2024. And in terms of upcoming releases, Gosling will portray the role of Ken in 2023’s upcoming Barbie film with Margot Robie in the titular role.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter