Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movie News

  • ‘Detroit’s Kathryn Bigelow Returns to Direct David Koepp’s ‘Aurora’ for Netflix

    ‘Detroit’s Kathryn Bigelow Returns to Direct David Koepp’s ‘Aurora’ for Netflix

    Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director has been on hiatus since her work on the 2017 drama Detroit. Now, she is set to make her return to tackle an adaptation of David Koepp‘s Aurora for Netflix. Koepp was the screenwriter behind countless blockbuster projects such as Mission: Impossible, Spider-Man, Jurassic Park and many more. He will also return to write the screenplay for this project, which sees Greg Shapiro and Gavin Polone in producing roles. They have worked with the writer for quite some time, and also have a history with Bigelow since her work on Stir of Echoes and Secret Windows.

    The story explores a solar storm that blackouts the entire world. In this hard time, a divorced mother tries to protect her kid and her estranged brother, who is a wealthy Sillicon Valley CEO. There’s no word if it’ll be a direct adaptation of the story’s themes of people living in a power crisis but it’s not uncommon for changes to happen in translation. The book won’t release until June 7th and has already received praise from Stephen King and screenwriter Scott Frank, the mind behind The Queen’s Gambit.

    Further details according to The Hollywood Reporter are that the deal happened over the weekend. It’s likely Bigelow‘s next project and has quite the budget, which is suspected to go beyond $100M. So, Netflix is once again jumping in with all they’ve got to make this project a reality. There’s no set release date currently.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • RUMOR: Villains for Adam Sztykiel’s ‘Wonder Twins’ Possibly Revealed

    RUMOR: Villains for Adam Sztykiel’s ‘Wonder Twins’ Possibly Revealed

    The DC Extended Universe is branching out into streaming with Peacemaker being the first of what we can assume will be many heroes to shine on HBO Max. Original films on the service are still something we’ve yet to see with titles like Batgirl and Black Canary on the way. Yet, it seems like another recently announced project is moving along faster than we anticipated.

    Just a few weeks ago we learned that HBO Max had begun development on yet another original DC film, this time focusing on Zan and Jayna, who are better known as the Wonder Twins. A new report from That Hashtag Show has revealed some new mystery characters who are listed to be the antagonist of the film.

    One of the villains is named Kenzie, as the studio is searching for an Australian female over the age of 18 years of age. The character is described as being a bit crazy, and having a few screws loose. She is super determined to be best friends with Jayna and has a massive crush on Zan. The other two villains are another set of twins named Pils and Vinka who are being compared to the Grady Twins from The Shining. The two of them walk and talk in unison and are on a mission to kill the Wonder Twins.

    Surprisingly the film is currently set to begin production on July 5th, 2022 which is quite quick considering how recently the film was announced. Black Adam writer Adam Sztykiel is set to write and direct the film. No casting announcements have been made but we can assume they’re more than likely coming soon.

    Source: That Hashtag Show

  • Chris Pine on a Potential Return in ‘Wonder Woman 3’

    Chris Pine on a Potential Return in ‘Wonder Woman 3’

    In 2017, Patty Jenkins gave the world our first real full-fledged move all about Wonder Woman. Gal Gadot took on the titular role and her character would make her way to the world of man alongside Steve Trevor. Chris Pine took on the role of the World War 1 pilot that would fall for the Amazonian half-goddess. Sadly, their love ended in tragedy when he sacrificed himself. Yet, a misguided wish saw his return in the body of another even as she once again had to bid farewell. With a third film on the horizon, Pine was asked about a potential return in the upcoming third entry where he got a rather straight-forward.

    I think poor Steve is dead, but I wish them all the best on the third one.

    Chris Pine

    It makes sense, especially with Diana Prince making the step to finally letting go during Wonder Woman 1984. It would be step back for her character development to find a way for him to return, or even just him randomly popping up out of nowhere. Though, perhaps she gets one final goodbye in some kind of major crossover event that restarts the DCEU, or we explore a different dimension where he survived. But, Wonder Woman 3 will likely focus on closing out the story that started in 2017.

    Source: USA Today

  • ‘The Marvels’ Adds Kree Scientist to Cast of Characters

    ‘The Marvels’ Adds Kree Scientist to Cast of Characters

    The Marvels isn’t expected in theaters for almost a year and little is known about the plot of the film, but it seems that fans can at least add another known character to their fan fiction. According to Mandy.com, a website that tracks actors and the productions they board, British actor Colin Stoneley has joined the Captain Marvel sequel.

    The listing comes courtesy of One Take News and lines up with a previous casting scoop by the site. According to Mandy, Stoneley will portray a Kree scientist by the name of Pap-Tonn, who was originally described as a “Scientist friend” in the original casting call. It’s possible Pap-Tonn will work to help one of the film’s protagonists understand the origin of their powers a bit better.

    Pap-Tonn continues the trend of incredibly obscure characters being used in The Marvels, allowing for Marvel Studios to reinvent them. Pap-Tonn appeared in only one Marvel Comic, Silver Surfer #8, and played a minor role there. The character joins Ael-Dan (or some version of the character) played by Zawe Ashton as minor comic characters in the film. Ashton’s character, however, is expected to have a much greater impact on the film as the primary antagonist.

    The Marvels will hit theaters on February 17, 2023.

  • ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’s Production Budget Was $1 Billion

    ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’s Production Budget Was $1 Billion

    Marvel Studios was all-in with their double featured led by the Joe and Anthony Russo, who were fresh off of their success with Captain America: Civil War. At the time, there were rumblings that the films were working with a budget of around $400 million but it was never truly confirmed. Well, that was until now, as Joe Russo revealed during a panel at Sands International Film Festival of St. Andrews that Avengers: Infinity War and its sequel Endgame each cost $500M to make. As such, they had a total budget of a billion making it probably the most expensive productions in Hollywood.

    I don’t know if these numbers have ever been accurately reported but in the case of Avengers: Endgame or Infinity War, each of those movies was $500 million plus. So this is an incredible amount of money that is being spent on these films. And you have responsibility, if you have a conscience to in some way deliver a return on that investment for the people that gave you that money. So it is risky to say ‘Hey we got a crazy idea, here’s how we can subvert expectations but we’re going to take your two most popular characters and we’re going to have them try to kill each other.’

    Joe Russo

    It definitely paid off, as not only did Endgame become the highest grossing film for some time before a re-release of Avatar took back the top spot, but we can only imagine how much money they made on home releases, merchandising and more. You have to also respect the fact that the company was willing to risk it. They believed in two directors that had their humble TV roots that would end up developing some iconic entries in one of the largest franchises of the world.

    Source: Deadline via ScreenCrush

  • Robert Rodriguez to Reboot ‘Spy Kids’ for Netflix

    Robert Rodriguez to Reboot ‘Spy Kids’ for Netflix

    Robert Rodriguez has been happily returning to some of his older franchises, as after reviving The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl with the sequel film We Can Be Heroes, he now sets his eyes on the Spy Kids franchise. Not only is he once again reuniting with Netflix to continue one of his classics, but he will focus on a new generation of Spy Kids, but while the script remains under wraps it’ll be a whole new family of spies.

    It’s unclear if we might expect cameos by Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Daryl Sabara, or Alexa Vega in the project. He’s no stranger to seeing the return of veteran actors and we might get some callbacks to the family that kickstarted the original film back in 2001. Skydance Media alongside the rights owner Spyglass Media are on board. The last entry was back in 2011 with Spy Kids: All The Time in the World.

    Robert Rodriguez will join the project as a director and also write the project. He just recently finished up work on The Book of Boba Fett and it seems that he’s already preparing for his next project. It’s unclear if he still has plans to return to the Star Wars universe at some point as well, but it seems he’ll have his hands full with rebooting his own franchises.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • RUMOR: Early ‘The Flash’ Test Screenings May Hint at Henry Cavill’s Future as Superman

    RUMOR: Early ‘The Flash’ Test Screenings May Hint at Henry Cavill’s Future as Superman

    There have been many discussions on what the future has in store for the DC Extended Universe, most notably Henry Cavill‘s time as Superman. As he seemingly is building up one new franchise after another, it sadly didn’t help matter son if we might see him return. The upcoming multiverse film The Flash seemingly hinted at a connection between him and Sasha Calle’s Supergirl with her new design, but it seemed safe to say they’d reboot the franchise with the event.

    Sadly, the upcoming project might be the final nail in the coffin for Cavill‘s tenure as the Man of Steel. Even though his run as the character back in 2013 set up the current version of the DCEU, a recent test screening of The Flash may have given us more details. Geeks Worldwide’s KC Walsh shared that the recent screening has hhighlighted that he is done with the franchise. Yet, as he points out, there’s always the possibility it might change but given how little involved he’s been with any of the projects, it seems likely.

    The latest Superman film that is in development was going to move away from Clark Kent to focus on Val Zod. We’ve also gotten rumors making the rounds that Supergirl and Batgirl would become part of the DCEU’s new trinity as the franchise continues to expand. Ben Affleck has openly left his role as Batman behind with Michael Keaton returning in The Flash and Robert Pattinson playing him in a separate universe for The Batman. So, it sadly isn’t really that much of a surprise that Cavill is also done as he focuses on his various Netflix projects.

    Source: Twitter

  • Sharon Stone Joins ’Blue Beetle’ in Villainous Role

    Sharon Stone Joins ’Blue Beetle’ in Villainous Role

    Sharon Stone is joining the cast of DC’s Blue Beetle.

    The news comes courtesy of The Wrap, with the outlet revealing Stone will play the villainous role of Victoria Kord. Per The Wrap, Victoria Kord is a character that has been created for the film. While the character may be an original, the surname of Kord should ring a bell to fans of DC Comics as Ted Kord, a genius billionaire, was the second character to take the name Blue Beetle. The film, which is due in theaters August 18, 2023, will follow Jaimie Reyes, the third Blue Beetle, played by Xolo Mariduena.

    Also joining the cast is Raoul Max Trujillo (Mayan M.C.), who plays Carapax the Indestructible Man. Carapax is an archeologist who has ties to Daniel Garrett, the first Blue Beetle, which means we have now mentioned all three Blue Beetles in this article.

    Originally intended to debut on HBO Max, Blue Beetle, directed by Angel Miguel Soto, was surprisingly pulled from the service in favor of a theatrical debut.


    Source: The Wrap.

  • Jeff Fowler Teases a Mystery Character for ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’

    Jeff Fowler Teases a Mystery Character for ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’

    It looks like there might be some surprises in store for us in the upcoming second entry of the newly established Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. While the first film had a more grounded story, director Jeff Fowler is excited to explore “some of the iconic imagery” that they missed out on. The best part, he also teased that there might be a surprise appearance we can expect in the upcoming second entry.

    I think it’s teased in this film, and I can’t say more than that. The character is teased. I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but that definitely is something I’d be very excited about telling a story with.

    Jeff Fowler

    It’s an interesting tease, but you shouldn’t expect the film’s to closely follow the structure from the original games. We’ve already seen them switch things up with the fact that Idris Elba‘s Knuckles is joining Sonic and Tails even though he doesn’t appear until the third entry. Plus, we also got the tease of the Labyrinth Zone in trailers which was part of the first game.

    It’s not always going to be a linear progression of like ‘Oh, this was in Sonic 2 so it’s going to be in the Sonic 2 film’. It’s going to be a little bit of a cherry picking, a little bit of a melting pot. There’s so much great, inspiring imagery to pull from the 30 years of games. So if we didn’t get it in one film, there’s always the chance that we’ll revisit it somewhere else.

    Jeff Fowler

    Some set photos teased the involvement of GUN, who were introduced in Sonic Adventure 2. We’ve seen it with Marvel that mixing up storylines and adapting however this new universe requires is becoming the norm in adaptation. Plus, it allows projects to surprise even veteran fans of the franchise. So, while some might expect Sonic CD‘s Metal Sonic, but the logo for the already confirmed third entry could tease more exploration of the Adventure franchise. We’ll see what the future has in store, especially with it potentially setting up a Knuckles-focused spinoff heading to Paramount+.

    Source: IGN

  • New ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Set Photos Tease Their Return to Earth

    New ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Set Photos Tease Their Return to Earth

    Just recently, we discussed some reports from the set of Hot Christmas, which is one of the Guardians of the Galaxy projects was filming on Earth. Not only that, but there was also a rumor making the rounds that Kevin Bacon may have joined the project in some capacity. Well, it seems that The Direct got their hands on set photos from that very location, which confirms that Star-Lord and the gang are returning to Earth one more time after the events of Avengers: Endgame.

    Most of the photos simply show us local police cars flipped on their side hinting at some kind of action sequence taking place. Sadly, there is no sighting of any of the actosr, and it seems they are very likely only setting up for the sequence that was described by the Reddit user some time ago.

    Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Set Photo The Direct
    Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Set Photo The Direct

    What does stand out is that one photo includes some Christmas decoration in the garden of the house where they are shooting. So, it would seem logical to assume this might be part of the The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special that’ll release this Christmas on Disney+.

    Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Set Photo The Direct

    If Kevin Bacon is involved with the project, it would be a funny story to have the Guardians get him a present and they end up kidnapping the actor. They’ve always been a bit unhinged and Quill’s reaction would be hilarious. Perhaps the story is them traveling back to return him home, only to be met with quite the warm welcome given they just abducted a celebrity and tried to act as if nothing happened. It’s only speculation, but their return to Earth might also be an emotional moment for Peter to meet his family again.

    Source: The Direct