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Tag: Movie News

  • New ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Spot Confirms More Returning Characters

    New ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Spot Confirms More Returning Characters

    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 releases in theaters in just over two weeks which means marketing for the film is really starting to pick up. The film has been billed as the last tour for this group of heroes and from the looks of it, they’ll have their hands full with Adam Warlock and the High Evolutionary.

    With such a tall task ahead of them, the Guardians will need all the help they can get. It’s been known for some time that Sylvester Stallone‘s Stakar Ogord was returning for Vol. 3 and a new spot for the film confirms he won’t be alone.

    As seen in the TV spot, Martinex and Krugarr, former Ravager buddies of Yondu’s who appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, will be returning for Vol. 3. With Stakar, Martinex and Krugarr now confirmed, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Charlie-27, Aleta and Mainframe return as well! Given Martinex’s return, it’s extremely likely that Michael Rosenbaum, who voiced the character in Vol. 2 and is a good friend of Gunn’s, will reprise the role. While there’s no confirmation that Ving Rhames, Michelle Yeoh and Miley Cyrus, who portrayed Charlie-27, Aleta and Mainframe, respectively, are back, it does seem likely. Gunn previously teased “wonderful” cameos that “true Guardians fans” would enjoy and those would definitely fit that description.

  • ‘Super Mario Bros.’ Pulls a Record-Breaking $87M in 2nd Weekend

    ‘Super Mario Bros.’ Pulls a Record-Breaking $87M in 2nd Weekend

    It looks like nostalgia remains a powerful tool for box office results. The Super Mario Bros. Movie has denied any expectations of being frontloaded and has pulled in an $87M second weekend, which is a huge hold after a powerful Easter weekend. Once again, it dethrones Frozen 2’s position at the top spot for animated films and marks Illumination’s best ever. What stands out is that this marks a drop of only 45%, the lowest we’ve probably seen in a long time for any project.

    Evil Dead Rise is on the horizon with a potential $20M+ opening weekend after moving away from HBO Max, it doesn’t look like anyone will take the top spot from Mario until the main summer season kicks off in a few weeks. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will likely push them off that top spot but the film has had no real direct family-oriented competition for some time, but it’ll be interesting to see if its main target audience is likely much older than one might expect.

    Sadly, there’s a drawback with such a dominant presence in theaters as other projects are seemingly suffering a bit and not quite pulling in the audiences they want. Normally, counterprogramming is quite effective in using an audience that isn’t drawn in by the latest blockbuster but perhaps this is a bigger showcase of what exactly the audience is behind a film based on a franchise that started in the 1980s.

    Renfield has seemingly bombed in its opening weekend at third place with a small $7.7M. 62% of the box office went to The Super Mario Bros. Movie so it and Russell Crowe’s The Pope’s Exorcist ($8.5M) had to duke it out for what is left. Though the mixed reception on both doesn’t help that isn’t uncommon with many horror films that actually play better than what the general audience reception might make you think.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Robocop’ Might Return as a TV Series and Movie Among Many Other Films

    ‘Robocop’ Might Return as a TV Series and Movie Among Many Other Films

    If there is one unspoken rule in Hollywood, it’s keeping classic IPs alive with various spinoffs, revivals, or whatever they can turn a project into. Amazon is seemingly mapping out a variety of new IPs under its umbrella as TV series and films for the future. So, let’s go down the IP reboot road to see what exactly Amazon has planned.

    Besides a potential revival of the long-dormant Stargate franchise, one of the big reveals is the revival of RoboCop. This would mark the second reboot of the franchise since 2014 which took a more modern approach to the 1987 classic but wasn’t as well received. The character has recently appeared in the Mortal Kombat gaming franchise and still remains a classic.

    They are also seemingly hoping to bring back Legally Blonde as a series and also a film. It seems they have been trying to revive it for quite some time as a third entry in the franchise has been in development for almost five years. They also are hoping to bring a TV series to life based on Fame, Barbershop, The Magnificent Seven as well as new films based on the Pink Panther (potentially animated) and Poltergeist.

    Source: Deadline

  • Amazon Eyeing to Revive the ‘Stargate’ as a Series and Film

    Amazon Eyeing to Revive the ‘Stargate’ as a Series and Film

    There are many iconic space-based series with the name “Star” in them. Star Wars and Star Trek have been among the most prominent in the Internet’s IP-infected watercooler chatter. Yet, there’s another series that had quite a cult following and a very respectable run on television, Stargate SG-1.

    It seems Amazon sees the potential of bringing the franchise back, as Deadline has reported there are currently talks on reviving it with a TV series and even as a film. There’s no word how exactly they’d build upon it or if that’ll act as a direct reboot to the original taking place in modern times. To be fair, they also have no talent attached so it’s unclear when the series might get released.

    The series ran for ten seasons on Showtime and the SciFi Channel before ending on Sky1 in 2007. What makes the franchise so interesting is that it was initially a film by Roland Emmerich that spun out into a unique series. That was just the beginning, as the Stargate SG-1 series had a variety of spinoffs.

    The series had two direct-to-DVD films The Ark of Truth and Continuum. There was also a direct spinoff series Stargate Atlantis that featured some of the original cast members throughout its run. Stargate Universe was a unique spinoff taking place in the same world but was completely removed from the original series and ran for two seasons. There also was a web miniseries called Stargate Origins that acted as a prequel.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Becomes 2023’s Highest-Grossing Film

    ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Becomes 2023’s Highest-Grossing Film

    Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has been dethroned as The Super Mario Bros. Movie has now become the biggest worldwide release. It’s also the first film to pass the $500M mark which is quite impressive considering it has a budget of $100M, which is quite a bit lower than Pixar or Disney’s overly ambitious $200M animated production costs. It’s currently on track to stick to the top spot in the second weekend with $58M after pulling in $9.4M on Thursday.

    Internationally, the film has pulled in around $248.4M globally and stands at a strong $260.3M domestically, which totals $508.7M. The film dropped around 63% on its second Thursday which is a strong hold and highlights the power of nostalgia and Nintendo. It seems more and more likely that this is the current winning formula as people relive their own memories and bring the family along for the ride, which is perfect for a kid’s film like The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

    Interestingly enough, the other two big releases are currently duking it out as Nicolas Cage’s Renfield and Russell Crowe’s The Pope’s Exorcist are the newest releases with very similar Thursday night releases at the domestic box office. Renfield is currently still leading the pack with $900K while Crowe’s film is behind only by $850M. The action-horror entry is currently set to overtake the other new release with a slightly better Rotten Tomatoes hinting at a better box office run.

    Source: Deadline, Deadline, The Numbers

  • Sydney Elizabeth Agudong Join ‘Lilo & Stitch’

    Sydney Elizabeth Agudong Join ‘Lilo & Stitch’

    As the start of production on Disney’s live-action reimagining of the animated classic Lilo & Stitch draws closer, the cast of the project continues to take shape. According to THR, Syndey Elizabeth Agudong is the latest addition to the cast in the role of Lilo’s sister, Nani Pelekai.

    In the 2002 animated film, Nani is the legal guardian of Lilo and one of the film’s lead characters. Agudong joins Maia Kealoah–who will play Lilo–and Zach Galifianakis. According to THR, the search for a voice actor for Stitch is still ongoing.

    Dean Fleischer Camp is directing Lilo & Stitch, which will be a Disney + exclusive release similar to Lady and the Tramp. The live-action remake is slated for a 2024 release.

  • Andy Muschietti Rumored to Be Back Behind the Camera for a New DC Studios Project

    Andy Muschietti Rumored to Be Back Behind the Camera for a New DC Studios Project

    It’s hard to imagine that there’s a comic book film that’s had a stranger saga than The Flash. While it’s finally set to be released this June, it’s been a long, rough road to release. Warner Bros. had been developing the property for over two decades when they finally added it to their slate of planned films and gave it a 2018 release date. Seth Grahame-Smith was brought on board to write and direct the Ezra Miller flick but bailed on the project citing creative differences. Warner Bros. swiftly replaced Grahame-Smith with Rick Famuyiwa who swiftly left citing…creative differences. By 2018, The Flash had become Flashpoint and then The Flash again, got a new creative team as John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein agreed to write and direct and was pushed to 2021 as Miller kept busy with his work in The Fantastic Beasts franchise. Daley and Goldstein hit the road and were replaced by It director Andy Muschietti who, by some miracle, stuck around long enough to make the film. And that’s not even getting into the Miller stuff…

    Muschietti’s work on The Flash has been subject to high praise from those who have screened the film ahead of its June 23rd release, including DC Studios co-chair James Gunn who called the film “one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.” While the place of Miller’s Flash in the new DCU remains to be seen, a new rumor suggests that Muschietti has proven his mettle and is being tasked with shepherding one of DC Studios recently announced theatrical projects. According to r/DCEUleaks “verified sources”, Gunn and co-chair Peter Safran are eyeing Muschietti to direct The Brave and The Bold, which will introduce the DCU’s prime Batman and his son, Damian.

    Described by Gunn as “a story of Damian Wayne, who’s Batman’s actual son that he didn’t know existed for the first eight to ten years of his life. He was raised as a little murderer and assassin,” The Brave and The Bold will be “a very strange sort of father-son story” about Batman and Damian based on the Batman and Son arc from Grant Morrison‘s epic run on Batman at DC Comics. While it’ll focus on Bruce and Damian, Safran shared that the film will also “feature other members of the extended Bat-Family just because we feel like they’ve been left out of the Batman stories in the theater for far too long.“ At this time, Gunn has not spoken on the possible inclusion of Muschietti in the project, though given his propensity to address online rumors, it may only be a matter of time before he does.

    Source: Reddit

  • ‘X-Men’ Franchise Director Rumored to Be in Line to Helm DC Studios ‘The Authority’

    ‘X-Men’ Franchise Director Rumored to Be in Line to Helm DC Studios ‘The Authority’

    The inclusion of The Authority among the new DCU’s theatrical projects certainly came as a surprise to fans when James Gunn revealed part of the slate of Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters. The super team, once described as the Anti-Justice League for their lack of a moral compass, is hardly among the most popular group of DC comic book characters but look to play a big part in the overarching narrative of the DCU. As such, Gunn and co-chair Peter Safran would almost certainly love an experienced director behind the camera and according to a new rumor, they’ve found their guy.

    According to r/DCEUleaks “verified sources”, Matthew Vaughn has been slotted in to direct The Authority. Vaughn is a veteran of comic book properties as he’s helmed Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class and the Kingsman trilogy. He is also known to be a huge fan of Superman who was once pursued by Warner Bros. to direct Man of Steel 2 and once developed a trilogy pitch with writer and friend Mark Millar. Interestingly, Millar wrote 12 issues of The Authority for DC following the departure of creators Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch from the series.

    As of yet, Gunn–who is notoriously active on social media when it comes to rumors about his projects–has yet to comment on the veracity of the rumor of Vaughn’s involvement. Whether it turns out to be true or not, Vaughn would certainly check a lot of boxes for both Gunn and fans when it comes to the type of talent attached to one of the new DC tentpoles.

    Source: Reddit

  • ‘Pearl’ Star Mia Goth Joins Mahershala Ali’s MCU Film ‘Blade’

    ‘Pearl’ Star Mia Goth Joins Mahershala Ali’s MCU Film ‘Blade’

    We haven’t heard much about Maherhsala Ali and Marvel Studios’ upcoming new take on iconic vampire hunter Blade. After a long pause, as production is set to finally start in a few months, the production studio got their hands on one of the biggest rising stars at the moment in Mia Goth for the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe entry set to be directed by Yann Demange from a script by Michael Starrbury. As is usual with these castings, her role is being kept a secret for now.

    Goth is probably among the current rising stars in Hollywood after her breakout role in Ti West’s X and its prequel Pearl. She has a knack for horror after starring in A Cure for Wellness, Suspiria, and Infinity Pool. She is also set to round out West’s X trilogy with MaXXXine which is currently filming. So she is likely to jump straight into the MCU production right after.

    It’ll be interesting to see what role she has in the upcoming MCU film and if they hope to have her be a recurring actress in the franchise. There’s no word on who she might be playing and how big of a role it might be, but she’d definitely make for a great addition to the franchise. Perhaps we get a new take on Vampire by Night who joins forces with Blade to take on an unlikely new foe in the horror corner of this cinematic universe.

    Source: Deadline

  • Live-Action ‘Lilo & Stitch’ Adds Billy Magnussen

    Live-Action ‘Lilo & Stitch’ Adds Billy Magnussen

    Aloha Billy Magnussen! It seems that the cast of the upcoming live-action Lilo & Stitch film is still growing ahead of its production. Magnussen joins Zach Galifianakis and future Lilo, Maia Kealoha in an undisclosed role. Some believe that the actor may be playing one of the aliens with Galifianakis theorized to take on the role of Pleakly. It doesn’t seem like he might be taking on the other iconic role of Jumpa Jookiba or Gantu, but they may also change some of the characters from the original.

    We already had hints that perhaps Bubbles won’t be returning and might get replaced with a different character. So, nothing is truly set in stone at this point on how they adapt Lilo & Stitch. It would be fun if they added some Easter eggs from the TV series like Jacques von Hämsterviel or some of Stitch’s numbered siblings. They have more options to play around in expanding the film in creative ways.

    Dean Fleischer Camp is set to direct the film and it’ll be interesting to see how they try to bring the loveable yet dangerous Stitch to live-action. They’ll likely not stray too far from his design in the original animated film but just with added textures. Given that he’s an alien, they aren’t restricted to having to make him as realistic as possible. we’ll still have to wait a while until we find out but here’s hoping they can capture that Ohana spirit of the original.

    Source: Collider