Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movie News

  • Disney Has Put ‘Hocus Pocus 3’ into Development

    Disney Has Put ‘Hocus Pocus 3’ into Development

    Disney has officially ordered a third Hocus Pocus movie. The news was announced on Sunday, with Walt Disney Pictures president Sean Bailey revealing the news in a New York Times profile piece. When asked what other upcoming live-action projects were in development at the studio, Bailey answered with, “‘Hocus Pocus 3’ is happening.”

    The news comes after the long-awaited sequel to 1993’s Hocus Pocus finally hit Disney+ in 2022. The sequel saw Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy return as the Sanderson Sisters, however, the film notably left out some of the main cast from the original film. Hocus Pocus 2 writer, Jen D’Angelo, explained that she hoped they could bring back both Max (Omri Katz) and Alison (Vinessa Shaw) for a third film. “We tried so hard to get the original cast back for cameos and then it just kept not working out for one reason or the other. But I’m hoping in ‘Hocus Pocus 3,’ we’ll see Max and Alison living in California.”

    Anne Fletcher directed Hocus Pocus 2 from D’Angelo’s script, but it’s currently unknown if either are returning for Hocus Pocus 3.

    Both Hocus Pocus and Hocus Pocus 2 are currently streaming on Disney+.

    Source: Variety via New York Times.

  • ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Nabs Biggest Opening Day of 2023

    ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Nabs Biggest Opening Day of 2023

    You read that correctly, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has opened to $51.7M on opening day, which makes it the biggest of 2023. Yes, it outgrossed Super Mario Bros.’ $31.7M Wednesday and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s $48.1M. It’s not yet clear if this is a bit of a frontloading due to the animated film’s growing popularity since the release of Into the Spider-Verse, but it makes the third-best opening day for any Spider-Man movie. Only Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 at $59.8M and Spider-Man: No Way Home’s $121.9M are ahead of it.

    That’s not all, as it is also the third highest animated opening ever only beaten by the Pixar film Incredibles 2 at $71.2M and Finding Dory’s $54.7M. Either way, it is Sony Pictures Animation’s biggest opening day ever and about to become its biggest opening weekend. If the film does end up being a frontloaded film it might land at $113.5M but has a chance that strong word-of-mouth might push it towards $125M.

    As of now, 93% are positive with 82% recommending the film according to PostTrak, which is already a good sign. It also nabbed an A CinemaScore, which isn’t quite No Way Home’s A+ but still the score that gives superhero films strong legs moving forward. Even if the film ends up frontloaded, it’s still quite an accomplishment in just how big of a jump it is from the first film which highlights that films that don’t make the biggest mark on the box office have the potential to grow exponentially.

    The only other major release here is The Boogyman, which pulled around $11.5M, which is slightly behind its initial tracking. The counterprogram was a smart placement even with a PG-13 rating, but it seems all eyes are on Across the Spider-Verse for the weekend. The curious case will be how the films perform internationally, as The Little Mermaid wasn’t quite the performer some may hope outside of the States.

    Source: Deadline, Deadline, Twitter

  • ‘The Boogeyman’ Grades Out with a Terrifying Cinemascore

    ‘The Boogeyman’ Grades Out with a Terrifying Cinemascore

    Based on a short story by Stephen King, The Boogeyman was initially intended to release on Hulu before getting upgraded to a full theatrical release. While the film has not been a huge hit with critics, it is holding on to a Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes with a 60%. After opening night, however, its Cinemascore indicates it may have been better off heading straight to streaming.

    Opening night audiences have chimed in and given director Rob Savage‘s adaptation of King’s 1973 short a B-. That score puts it on par with recent horror and horror-ish films The Pope’s Exorcist and Renfield and combined with the projected $15M opening weekend box office take (it’s up against Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, for Pete’s or Miles’ sake) does not bode well for a long and successful theatrical run.

    Regarded as one of King’s more terrifying works of fiction, The Boogeyman tells the tale of a man named Lester Billings and his horrific history with the titular monster. While critics have praised the atmosphere of the film adaptation, they’ve been less bullish on the creative choices made jumping from page to screen, insisting something was lost in translation.

    You can read our review here and check The Boogeyman out for yourself in theaters.

    Source: Cinemascore

  • ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Headed for a Huge Opening Weekend Box Office Take

    ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Headed for a Huge Opening Weekend Box Office Take

    Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has been one of the most anticipated films of 2023 and it looks like that’s going to translate into a monster opening weekend at the box office. With the film’s preview night generating a huge take, it’s now on track to have one of 2023’s best first weekends.

    The sequel to the 2018 hit Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Across the Spider-Verse took in a massive $17.3M which is nearly five times more than its predecessor. It also ranks as the second-highest preview night take for an animated film, falling in line behind the $18.5M Incredibles 2 earned. So far in 2023, only Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has had a better first Thursday but not by much as the James Gunn sendoff took in $17.5M.

    The huge preview night plus the overwhelmingly positive reviews of the film now have it on pace for an opening weekend in the range of $115-$125M, up significantly from the earlier predictions of $75-$90M. For comparison’s sake, Into the Spider-Verse opened to just north of $35M in 2018. With the new film grossing nearly half that much on its first Thursday, this will be a fun film to track!

    Source: Deadline

  • Dwayne Johnson Announces His Fast Franchise Future Plans

    Dwayne Johnson Announces His Fast Franchise Future Plans

    After once swearing off any possibility that he’d return to the Fast franchise following a feud with Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson has had an about-face. Following his surprising cameo in a Fast X post-credit scene, The Rock has announced his full-fledged return to the series via his social media.

    “Your reactions around the world to Hobbs’ return in Fast X have blown us away,” said Johnson before revealing plans for a Hobbs solo feature film. “The next Fast & Furious film you’ll see the legendary lawman in will be the HOBBS movie that will serve as a fresh, new chapter & set up for FASTX: Part II.” It’s likely that the Hobbs film will pick up where the Fast X cameo left off and could see Johnson go toe-to-toe with Jason Momoa‘s flamboyant villain, Dante Reyes. Given that the two never got to work together in the DC Universe, should Momoa co-star in the Hobbs film it would mark the first time the two action stars worked together.

    As for his well-known feud with Diesel, Johnson assured fans that the two stars have moved on and are moving forward. “Last summer Vin and I put all the past behind us,” said Johnson of the famous beef he held against Diesel dating back to 2016. “We’ll lead with brotherhood and resolve – and always take care of the franchise, characters & FANS that we love.” As part of the terms of their resolved conflict, Deadline reported that Johnson’s Hobbs may also end up appearing in the 11th film in the Fast series as well.

    Source: Deadline

  • A New Name Joins the List of Actors Up for the Role of Kal-El in ‘Superman: Legacy’

    A New Name Joins the List of Actors Up for the Role of Kal-El in ‘Superman: Legacy’

    With production on James Gunn‘s Superman: Legacy tentatively slated to get underway in January 2024, the search for the actors and actresses who will fill the film’s key roles is well underway. In May, a list of potential frontrunners for the roles of Superman, Lois Lane and Lex Luthor emerged and while that list was stocked with talent, there’s been no official word of anyone landing a spot just yet. Now, a new report from Variety indicates that Gunn may still be looking for his Superman and that a new name has joined his list of candidates.

    The trade is reporting that model and actor Pierson Fodé, best known for a 280-episode run on The Bold and the Beautiful, may have caught Gunn’s eye and be among those up for the role of Kal-El. Fodé‘s self-taped audition included a “montage” of the small-town farm in Montana on which the actor grew up and it apparently gave off some Clark Kent/Smallville vibes that Gunn reportedly enjoyed.

    Landing what must be one of the most coveted leading roles in Hollywood would be a major step up the ladder for Fodé whose biggest film credits include a supporting role in Woody Harrelson and Kevin Hart‘s Netflix original The Man from Toronto. Variety reported that no decisions have been made and that everyone’s reps declined comment. Superman: Legacy is currently set to hit theaters on July 11, 2025.

    Source: Variety

  • Amy Pascal Confirms Development on Live-Action Miles Morales Feature Film

    Amy Pascal Confirms Development on Live-Action Miles Morales Feature Film

    As audiences prepare for the return on Miles Morales in his second animated feature film, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, word comes that Sony plans to bring the character back to the screen in a live-action project. At the red carpet premiere of Across the Spider-Verse, producer Amy Pascal confirmed with Variety that the project is one of many in development at Sony.

    “You’ll see all of it. It’s all happening,” said Pascal when asked if the protagonist of the Spider–Verse trilogy would make his way into live-action. Created in 2011 by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli, Morales quickly became one of Marvel Comics most popular heroes. After originally becoming the Spider-Man of the Ultimate universe after the death of Peter Parker, Morales jumped into the mainstream/Earth-616 continuity in 2015’s Secret Wars and has remained a prominent part of the company’s line of comics since.

    It’s unclear just how far into development the live-action Miles Morales project might be at this time and if it’s a project that Sony is tackling solo or in collaboration with Marvel Studios. Spider-Man: Homecoming featured Morales’ uncle, Aaron Davis, played by Donald Glover, and what has been interpreted to be a reference to Miles. While that reference could ultimately just be an Easter egg, it’s probably in both studios’ best interests to work together to define Miles Morales’ live-action future as allowing him to interact with the already-established MCU characters would benefit his development the same way it has with Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. As exciting as the news of a live-action Miles Morales film is, however, it’s best to temper expectations until the project is much further down the development pipeline.

    Source: Variety

  • THWIP! WGA Strike Webs Up Development on ‘Spider-Man 4’

    THWIP! WGA Strike Webs Up Development on ‘Spider-Man 4’

    For the better part of a year, leakers and scoopers in every corner of the internet have promised the imminent release of news concerning the status of the fourth movie in Marvel Studios and Sony’s ongoing collaborative Spider-Man franchise. Lo and behold it seems they were correct as news has finally arrived!

    At the red carpet premiere for Sony’s highly-anticipated animated sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Amy Pascal confirmed that while there will still be a Spider-Man 4, the development of the film has been paused during the ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America. “Are we going to make another movie? Of course, we are,” said Pascal of the next Tom Holland-led adventure. “We’re in the process, but the writers strike, nobody is working during the strike. We’re all being supporters and whenever they get themselves together, we’ll get started.”

    What that means for the untitled fourth MCU-set Spidey flick remains to be seen but it probably won’t be making that oft-rumored Summer 2024 release date and even a projected 2025 release would be uncertain until some potential endpoint to the strike can be ascertained. At the very least, it’ll give Daredevil: Born Again stars Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio a nice respite following their year-long production on that ambitious streaming series before they step back into their roles in Spidey 4.

    Source: Variety

  • Classic Marvel Villain Avi Arad Has No Idea When ‘Spider-Woman’ Will Hit Theaters

    Classic Marvel Villain Avi Arad Has No Idea When ‘Spider-Woman’ Will Hit Theaters

    Short of Norman Osborn, no single man that has ever walked the fictional or non-fictional planet Earth has a greater vendetta against Spider-Man than Avi Arad. Unlike Norman, however, Arad seems relatively unaware of his ongoing destruction of all things Peter Parker. After producing Marvel Comic-based such as 1998’s Blade, 2000’s X-Men and 2002’s Spider-Man, Arad went on to produce some of the worst CBMs in the history of the genre and famously forcing Sam Raimi into including Venom into Spider-Man 3, tainting the franchise.

    As penance for his sins, Arad went on to ensure that Sony could produce a number of outrageously terrible films built around Spider-Man villains including Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Morbius and the upcoming Kraven the Hunter along with another half dozen films that certainly aren’t making the top 25 CBMs. Now Sony leans heavily into both animation and their relationship with Marvel Studios to resuscitate the studio’s reputation with the Web-Head, Arad reveals that, once again, he is clueless about another Sony project.

    In an interview with Variety, Arad claimed that a Spider-Woman movie–based on another character whose live-action right are shared by Marvel Studios and Sony–would be coming “sooner than you expect.” Wildly enough, since casting for Spider-Woman, which Sony exec Amy Pascal says “is happening“, was underway in prior to COVID shutting down Hollywood in 2020, fans have been expecting the film, once believed to be helmed by Olivia Wilde, to have been in theaters already. However, fans are set to be treated to Sony/Marvel fare such as Madame Web and, maybe, El Muerto instead while the theatrical future of Spider-Woman, a far more premiere Marvel Comics character, remains uncertain.

    Whether or not Wilde is still attached to the Spider-Woman project–which was slated to feature Jessica Drew–is unknown. However, given that Marvel Studios and Sony have a very strange and unfortunate relationship over the character’s live-action right, anything less than a Disney/Sony co-op will not do the character justice.

    Source: Variety

  • Disney’s Live-Action ‘Moana’ Reimagining Finds Director in Tony Award Winner Thomas Kail

    Disney’s Live-Action ‘Moana’ Reimagining Finds Director in Tony Award Winner Thomas Kail

    On the heels of their live-action reimagining of The Little Mermaid garnering an A Cinemascore and opening to largely positive critical reviews, the studio has found a director for one of its next big remakes. According to THR, Thomas Kail, who directed 2020’s filmed stage production of Hamilton as well as Broadway and Off-Broadway of Hamilton and In the Heights, has signed on to helm the Dwayne Johnson-led live-action Moana.

    Earlier this year during a conference call with investors and Bob Iger, it was revealed that Johnson and his Seven Bucks Production Company were leading the charge in developing a live-action reimagining of Moana, one of Disney’s modern classics.

    I’m deeply humbled and overcome with gratitude to bring the beautiful story of Moana to the live-action big screen. This story is my culture, and this story is emblematic of our people’s grace and warrior strength. I wear this culture proudly on my skin and in my soul, and this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reunite with Maui, inspired by the mana and spirit of my late grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia, is one that runs very deep for me. I want to thank my partners at Disney for their strong commitment to this special endeavor, because there is no better world for us to honor the story of our people, our passion and our purpose than through the realm of music and dance, which is at the core of who we are as Polynesian people.

    Dwayne Johnson on the Moana reimagining

    While Johnson shared that he would be reprising the role of the demigod Maui, the studio made it clear that there was no timetable for when production might begin as they were searching for a director. Now, it seems they’ve found their guy in the Tony Award-winning Kail. After winning the 2016 Tony for Best Direction of a Musical for his Broadway production of Hamilton, Kail found himself on familiar ground when he led the Disney Plus production of the show which streamed to rave reviews in the COVID-ravaged entertainment landscape of 2020. Kail is currently in the midst of a Broadway run on Sweeney Todd and is also tapped to direct a feature film adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof.

    According to Disney, the live-action reimagining of Moana “will celebrate the islands, communities and traditions of Pacific Islanders as seen through the eyes of a young woman eager to pave her own path. Moana’s journey of self-discovery and reflection on the lives of her ancestors won hearts worldwide, as did her newfound friendship with an exiled demigod named Maui.”

    Source: THR