Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movie News

  • ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ Director Calmatic on “Sampling” the 1992 Original

    ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ Director Calmatic on “Sampling” the 1992 Original

    Don’t call it a remake. 20th Century Studios White Men Can’t Jump might share the name and premise of the 1992 Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson classic but it is unabashedly its own film. Jack Harlow‘s washed-up white dude, Jeremy, and Sinqua Walls‘ Kamal are still hustling on the streetball circuit of L.A. but the 2023 film is much more of a modern retelling than a remake. Infused with 21st-century sensibilities, the new film works as a wonderful homage to the 1992 original while comfortably and confidently forging its own path.

    After retelling another 1990s classic, House Party, director Calmatic dipped into the retelling well again for White Men Can’t Jump, just his second feature film. Known for his work as a director of music videos for stars such as Lamar Kendrick, Lil Nas X, Pharrell Williams and more, Calmatic saw the opportunity to bring an important part of the music industry to the project: sampling. Rather than attempting to remake a beloved film, Calmatic paid homage to the film by taking some of its best bits and making them their own, new thing.

    (L-R): Jack Harlow as Jeremy and Sinqua Walls as Kamal in 20th Century Studios’ WHITE MEN CAN’T JUMP, exclusively on Hulu. Photo by Parrish Lewis. © 2023 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.

    “I got a hip-hop background, right? And so, I don’t like to say, like, we re-made a movie. I feel like we sampled a movie, right?“, explained Calmatic during the global press event for Hulu’s White Men Can’t Jump. Calmatic extended the music analogy much further, saying “We took a couple of elements; you know what I’m sayin’? We chopped it up. We changed the pitch; you know what I’m sayin’? We reversed it a little bit. And then we put a whole new bassline, a whole new set of drums on it to make it feel current. And so, I feel like that’s what this is, right? This is, like, a dope flip, you know what I mean? So, I think, you know, they say things that are classic are things that are new that feel familiar.“

    For Calmatic, it was a balancing act of sampling the bits of the 1992 film that worked so well with allowing the 2023 film to find its own footing. “So, I think we had a bunch of new elements, new characters, new storyline,” he explained, “but we had to have some of those elements, some of those locations that are familiar to everyone, you know, kinda, you know, associates with the original film. So, Venice Beach, we had to keep Venice Beach in there, you know what I’m sayin’? We had to have, you know, the guy skating down the boardwalk, you know what I mean? We had to do this in Watts, you know what I’m sayin’? That court is iconic. That bridge, the Watts Towers, like, we had to keep that. And then, obviously the big, you know, flamethrower scene. That was the original location from the “I’m gonna go get my gun,” you know what I’m sayin’?“, said Calmatic, referencing the classic bit from Marques Johnson‘s Raymond.

    What’s clear is that while fans of the 1992 film will find those rhyming samples entertaining, Calmatic has made a film that doesn’t require any association with its namesake. That Hulu’s White Men Can’t Jump can both stand on the shoulders of the classic and stand on its own is quite an accomplishment. White Men Can’t Jump debuts on Hulu May 19th.

  • Frontrunners Emerge for Key ‘Superman: Legacy’ Roles

    Frontrunners Emerge for Key ‘Superman: Legacy’ Roles

    With principal photography on Superman: Legacy set to kick off in just eight months, writer/director James Gunn has begun the process of casting. A series of trade reports have provided some insight into a list of potential frontrunners for some of the 2025 film’s key roles while also giving some more details about what to expect from the all-new, all-different DCU’s first feature film.

    Casting Kal-El

    It’s not unfair to say that whoever Gunn chooses for his Kal-El could make or break not only Superman: Legacy but also the fledgling DCU. Fortunately, Gunn has an uncanny knack for nailing key castings. Despite a list of monster names having auditioned for the Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy, Gunn famously fought to have Chris Pratt in the role despite the star flubbing his audition. Dave Bautista probably owes his now acclaimed acting career to Gunn, Karen Gillan became a star as Nebula and Chukwudi Iwuji put together one of Marvel Studios’ best villainous turns as the High Evolutionary in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Gunn knows talent and given he also knows Superman: Legacy inside and out, he knows exactly what he’s looking for in the next actor to wear the symbol of the House of El and according to the Hollywood trades, he’s getting close to finding his leading man.

    THR reports that after viewing audition tapes for the role of Clark Kent, DC Studios is preparing to screen test a handful of frontrunners. Topping that list are Pearl and House of Cards star David Corenswet and X-Men alum Nicholas Hoult, while Euphoria star Jacob Elordi and Andrew Richardson seem to have been among a larger group of earlier contenders that has since been thinned out.

    Finding Lois Lane

    When the star of your show is an omnipotent, god-like alien, it’s pretty important that he stay grounded. To that end, Gunn’s selection for Lois Lane is nearly as critical as that of Superman. Much like the casting of Sue Storm is essential for Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four, Gunn has to land a star as Lois. Despite being married to a nigh-invulnerable hero, it’s Lois who stands tall as the unshakable center of Superman’s life. Appropriately, Gunn has put together quite a list of stars for the role.

    The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Rachel Brosnahan, Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor, Sex Education star Emma Mackey and neo scream queen Samara Weaving have reportedly made their way through the early screening process. Brosnahan’s audition seems to have caught Gunn’s eye though multiple reports indicate the Emmy-award-winning actress may be just outside of the age range Warner Bros. Discovery has in mind for their new universe.

    The Big Bad

    While the trades have casually reported the news that the film’s antagonist will be Lex Luthor, it is the first confirmation that Gunn has chosen Superman’s oldest and most well-known foe to occupy his time in the first film. It’s simultaneously the most and least bold choice Gunn could make.

    After checking in with an unknown star of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on their interest in the role, Gunn is reportedly now meeting with Black actors for the role of “Apex.” While that’s just a code name, it does refer to a very recent iteration of the character who was an extremely powerful human/Martian hybrid.

    The reports indicate that the casting process for all three roles is expected to pick up steam after Memorial Day. It would certainly be in DC Studios’ best interest to have the cast of Superman: Legacy introduced on stage in two months at SDCC ’23 and given Gunn’s history with the convention, that wouldn’t be a surprise.

    Sources: THR, Deadline, The Wrap

  • ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ Eyeing a Soft $40M Opening Weekend in Early Projections

    ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ Eyeing a Soft $40M Opening Weekend in Early Projections

    A long time ago, the Transformers franchise under the leadership of Michael “Bayhem” Bay was one of the biggest releases in theaters. Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Age of Extinction went on to make billions at the box office but started to lose momentum with the release of The Last Knight and Bumblebee. While the latter was a fresh take and much closer to what fans hoped to see from this franchise, the franchise definitely lost quite a bit of momentum as it went on.

    One could argue that the lack of Transformers branding could also have softened its opening, but it still managed to pull in $465M on a softer $102M production budget. The opening weekend at $21M had many concerned that this franchise might run out of steam, but that doesn’t mean production companies will try to keep a potential billion-dollar franchise dormant for long.

    So, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is the next attempt to revitalize the franchise by bringing back Optimus Prime and even introducing the more out-there concept of the Maximals. The promotion has not been shy about showcasing these characters that carry on the introduction of Lockjaw and the dinosaur-based Transformers while also re-introducing the classic characters in familiar designs closer to what Bumblebee offered.

    Yet, it seems early projections aren’t looking too optimistic for the franchise return. Pre-sales at the moment are closer to underperformers like recent releases Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Morbius. Plus, the summer market is extremely stuffed (leaving its scars in the earlier quarter of the year) and may lead to quite a few films cannibalizing each other. June is quite a bit stuffed with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and The Flash, who shared very similar audiences.

    As of now, the film is tracked for an opening somewhere between $30M and $40M. That would put it lower than 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight which opened to $44M. Of course, it’s still an early projection and they might push the marketing quite a bit more the closer we get to release. The only issue is that this VFX-heavy release might be another $200M production investment that may not get paid off.

    For now, we’ll have to keep a close eye as projections change but we might be seeing more and more that what some called a “superhero fatigue” is closer to a blockbuster fatigue. There are certain expectations in 2023 that are showing strong patience for streaming offerings due to how it was handled throughout the last few years. Last year seemed less impacted due to a limited release schedule but we’ll have to see how many films actually get lots in the shuffle.

    Source: Box Office Pro, The Numbers

  • ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ Breaks Marvel’s Box Office Curse

    ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ Breaks Marvel’s Box Office Curse

    If there was one thing Marvel Studios’ releases were reliable on, it was just how frontloaded most of their projects are. Commonly, the films post-COVID have dropped at least around 55% at the box office but it started to get harsher and harsher as time went on. Even Spider-Man: No Way Home dropped around 68% after a massive opening. No matter if a B or A CinemaScore, it seemed like most of these projects are facing around 65% drops at least.

    Finally, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has broken that very course with an impressive hold over its second weekend. The film has pulled in $60.5M in its second weekend, which marks its best second-weekend hold since the pandemic started at 49%. While earlier most suspected around 55%, this marks the film only $5M off from the previous entry and could actually mark a much stronger run moving forward. It’s even $1.7M off from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which had Marvel Studios’ best post-covid opening so far.

    What makes this so significant is that it’s even lower than Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ 54% drop, which was the last before the films started dropping more and more. It also marks a turning point from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s drop at around 70% earlier this year; a film that seemingly ran out of steam after a record-breaking opening for the trilogy. In a way, it further highlights that this is less a superhero fatigue but rather a more selective audience due to quick accessibility via streaming.

    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever had a similar A CinemaScore to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 but still faced a 62.9% drop. The film still managed to make around $854M at the box office after a powerful $181M opening weekend. Guardians 3 had a weaker softer opening but is set to leg out, which is far more important for Marvel Studios at the moment. If they faced Quantumania developments moving forward, we could discuss fatigue being a key factor at play.

    While some will point to this being the last hurrah by James Gunn and a much better showcase of DC Studios’ future, it also marks a turning point for Marvel moving forward. If The Marvels doesn’t capitalize on this development and they can continue back to building A CinemaScores with their offerings, they may see a much more positive development once again. While it’s hard to say where the film will land, it already passed $528M worldwide and has a chance of breaking the $900M mark. The power of its word-of-mouth will push it forward.

    Source: Deadline, Twitter, BoxOffice Pro

  • First ‘Fast X’ Reactions  Praise Jason Momoa’s Villain

    First ‘Fast X’ Reactions  Praise Jason Momoa’s Villain

    With the passing of the social media embargo for Universal’s latest installment in the Fast & The Furious franchise, Fast X, but expiring yesterday, journalists and critics who attended early screenings of the film began rolling out their opinions. Though the first wave of reactions indicate that Fast X may be a bit disappointing to fans of the high-octane franchise, most everyone agrees that a new addition stole the show.

    Jason Momoa joined the franchise as Dante Reyes, the son of Fast 5 Hernan Reyes who was killed by Dwayne Johnson‘s Hobbs. And while he might be playing Reyes, it sounds like Momoa is really just letting all his Momoaness out in Fast X.  Forbes critic Simon Thompson says Momoa’s “perilous peacocking” stands out in the “stupidly entertaining” sequel.

    Cinema Blend’s Eric Rosenberg compared Momoa’s Reyes to the Joker, calling him ” a gleeful psychopath” and part of the reason the film gets the franchise “back on track.”

    https://twitter.com/eeisenberg/status/1657143615276064774?t=wxlejC0ugv5U6TBEUHzvwQ&s=19

    io9 veteran critic Germain Lussier joined in singing Momoa’s praises, saying his performance is “God-level.” However, Lussier was much less impressed with Fast X, calling it “the worst” film in the series.

    Insider correspondent Kirsten Acuna hints at a potentially divisive film while also hyping it up as Universal’s Infinity War.

    Though she enjoyed the film, Acuna also noted that Fast X is a mid-tier Fast franchise entry while also boarding the Momoa praise train.

    Given Momoa’s charismatic Reyes is drawing such rave reviews and the film is likely to continue to ludicrous, over-the-top action fans have embraced, Fast X is likely to be a hit when it opens in theaters May 19th!

  • Willem Dafoe Joins Jenna Ortega in ‘Beetlejuice’ Sequel

    Willem Dafoe Joins Jenna Ortega in ‘Beetlejuice’ Sequel

    Tim Burton is set on bringing a classic franchise back to the silver screen with his work on a Beetlejuice sequel. The cast has been growing quite a bit as of late, as the film has already started production. It’s unclear if the script was finished in advance given the WGA strike but we’ll have to see if anything changes. That still isn’t stopping the return of adding to its cast with some heavy hitters. Michael Keaton is back in the titular role and is joined by Jenna Ortega, who will play the daughter of Winona Ryder’s character, who is also returning.

    As of now, the cast has also added Catherine O’Hara alongside Justin Theroux and Monica Belluci. Yet, that isn’t all as the news has just dropped that Willem Dafoe has seemingly also joined the production. The exact details on his character are scarce, but he may be playing a law enforcement officer in the afterlife, but it’s unclear if he has that role or simply is a cop that may be living.

    The film is eyeing a September 2024 release, which was Marvel Studios’ original release date for Blade. Though that film halted pre-production due to the strike, it’s not a good showcase that this film is moving forward. It’s also funny to see some typecasting for this film as Ortega continues to gather all gothic franchises under her belt after her recent breakout hit Wednesday. It’ll be interesting to see her dynamic opposite Ryder.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter

  • Vin Diesel Seemingly Confirms ‘Fast X’ as First Part of a Trilogy

    Vin Diesel Seemingly Confirms ‘Fast X’ as First Part of a Trilogy

    You can always count on Vin Diesel’s enthusiasm to keep a franchise going even as everyone else expects it to wrap up. Originally, The Fast Saga was announced to wrap up with its upcoming eleventh film as production started on Fast X which would set up the final entry. There has been speculation these two films are more of a “Part 1” and “Part 2” deal, but it seems that Diesel has expanded upon his idea.

    On the red carpet for Fast X, the franchise’s main star has seemingly confirmed that the last entry is no longer setting up the final part but rather is the first of a three-part finale. So, it seems we are getting a trilogy to wrap up the mainline Fast Saga even if there’s a good chance he may just expand upon it if this is his way of promoting a new entry into the car-driven action franchise.

    It’s certainly a bizarre move as they made quite a big deal out of wrapping it up with these upcoming two films. There’s no word if director Louis Letterier will also return for the sequels after the fallout that occurred on production with original Fast X director Justin Lin. The film already has to make up a lot of money for the delays that occurred due to Lin’s exit and who knows how long this franchise will keep the engine going.

    Source: Twitter

  • Disney Reveals Where the Events of ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Fall on the MCU Timeline

    Disney Reveals Where the Events of ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Fall on the MCU Timeline

    With the arrival of Spider-Man: Homecoming on Disney Plus comes the revelation of where the events of Tom Holland‘s first solo outing as the Web-Head falls on the MCU timeline. As it turns out, it’s right where most folks have believed it belonged all along.

    According to the “Marvel Cinematic Universe in Timeline Order” category located in the Marvel section of Disney Plus, the events of Spider-Man: Homecoming takes place in between the events of Black Panther and Doctor Strange. Both Black Panther and Homecoming spin out of Captain America: Civil War which introduced both T’Challa and Peter Parker into the MCU so the events of their solo films taking place near each other chronologically has always made sense.

    The debate of whether to watch Marvel Studios films in release or chronological order has been ongoing for some time which makes every new addition to Disney Plus a point of interest for MCU fans. Though these timelines may not be “official”, an official timeline is coming later in 2023. In September Random House will publish Marvel Studios The Marvel Cinematic Universe An Official Timeline, written by Anthony Breznican, Amy Ratcliffe and Rebecca Theodore-Vachon in collaboration with Marvel Studios. It’s likely that the timeline will delve much deeper into the minutia of the MCU, revealing which projects–or events within them–took place simultaneously. Until then, the Disney Plus timeline is the best one we have!

  • ‘Crater’ Star Isaiah Russell-Bailey Reveals Which Classic Coming-of-Age Movie Served as Inspiration for His Character

    ‘Crater’ Star Isaiah Russell-Bailey Reveals Which Classic Coming-of-Age Movie Served as Inspiration for His Character

    The Disney Plus original movie Crater tells the story of a group of friends who take a road trip across the moon in their last days together. With Isaiah Russell-Bailey‘s Caleb set to leave the moon following the death of his father, the group comes together to break all the rules and help Caleb fulfill a promise to his dad. Part road trip and part coming-of-age, Crater shines a light on just how important friends are during our most trying times.

    Written by John Griffin, Crater feels nostalgic despite being set hundreds of years in the future. The group dynamic featured in the film calls back to classics such as The Goonies, The Breakfast Club and even Ferris Bueller’s Day Off as the kids break all the rules and put themselves at risk to help their friend get where he needs to be. For a film starring a cast who were all born in the 21st century, Crater is definitely a throwback and according to Russell-Bailey, he had to do some homework and watch another 80s coming-of-age film before he found his inspiration for Caleb.

    (L-R): Isaiah Russell-Bailey as Caleb, Thomas Boyce as Marcus, Mckenna Grace as Addison and Orson Hong as Borney in CRATER, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Patti Perret. © 2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

    “I watched Stand by Me in preparation for this film,” said Russell-Bailey. “And I watched it to kind of see who Caleb related to in the film. And I felt like he related to, you know, River Phoenix’s character and Will Wheaton’s character. And I tried to add a bit of their characters to Caleb, so I could make Caleb more well-rounded, as a character. And I love Stand by Me and all those old adventure movies,” he explained.

    Adapted from a Stephen King novella and directed by Rob Reiner, 1986’s Stand By Me is a genre classic that follows a group of boys’ adventure searching for a dead body. Nominated for an Academy Award, Stand By Me is largely considered one of the best films not only of the 1980s but also of all time and seems to have clearly been an inspiration for Griffin’s script. Specifically, the film’s closing lines–“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”–seem echoed Russell-Bailey’s performance as Caleb in Crater. Griffins’ script for Crater was one of the top five best unproduced of 2015 according to The Black List, it won’t be surprising to see it join the ranks of coming-of-age classics once it starts streaming on Disney Plus on May 12th.

  • Warner Bros. Officially Adds ‘Beetlejuice 2’ to Its Slate, Justin Theroux Joins Cast

    Warner Bros. Officially Adds ‘Beetlejuice 2’ to Its Slate, Justin Theroux Joins Cast

    Michael Keaton can scratch another iconic role off his list of parts to play again 30+ years later. According to THR’s Aaron Couch, Warner Bros. has finally put the sequel to the 1988 classic Beetlejuice on the slate.

    Rumors of a Beetlejuice sequel have persisted for years but now the pieces are in place to bring the Ghost with the Most back to the big screen. In early 2022, it was reported that Keaton would reprise the role and that he’d be joined in his return by Winona Ryder. More recently, THR reported that director Tim Burton was on board to return to direct the sequel and that Jenna Ortega (Scream, Wednesday) was circling a major role believed to be the daughter of Ryder’s Lydia and Justin Theroux joined the cast in an unknown role.

    It seems now WB has all the pieces in place and are ready to move into production immediately. THR reports that the powers that be at WB have put Beetlejuice 2 on their theatrical slate, slotting it in for a September 6, 2024 release while Deadline reports the project will begin principal photography on May 10th.

    Beetlejuice marks the second iconic 1980s role that Keaton has now revived. The actor will once again fill the dual roles of Bruce Wayne and Batman in this Summer’s The Flash. All we can do now is hold out hope that he’ll pull out the house flannel and reprise the role of Jack in a Mr. Mom sequel.

    Sources: THR, Deadline