Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movie News

  • ‘Thunderbolt’s Steven Yeun Opens Up on Joining the MCU

    ‘Thunderbolt’s Steven Yeun Opens Up on Joining the MCU

    Steven Yeun is quite busy promoting his upcoming Netflix series, Beef. Starring opposite Ali Wong, the film explores a feud between two strangers that continues to escalate. Yet, that isn’t all the former The Walking Dead actor has on the horizon, as he’s also taking the leap to become part of the superhero genre once again.

    After lending his voice to Invincible, the actor has seemingly decided to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He’ll be part of the Thunderbolts but his exact role remains a mystery. There are rumors pointing to him potentially playing the MCU’s Sentry but nothing official has been confirmed.

    In an interview with Total Film, the actor got a chance to share what it’s like joining a franchise like the MCU.

    I feel good. I feel excited. I feel like a new challenge. I feel blessed to be able to play in a place that reaches so many people. I got to touch that on Walking Dead. It feels exciting to get another chance to connect with people in another way.

    Steven Yeun

    It’s great to see his enthusiasm for the project and definitely highlights how he can reach an audience similar to his time on The Walking Dead. In a way, it’s a great showcase of what an actor can do when given the chance to star in something that is more mainstream while still working on smaller projects like the upcoming Beef.

    Source: Total Film

  • ‘Deadpool 3’ Adds ‘Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen

    ‘Deadpool 3’ Adds ‘Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen

    It looks like we’re slowly getting more and more castings from the upcoming third Deadpool film. Deadpool 3 will see the return of Ryan Reynolds in the role of the Merc with a Mouth, but most notably also see Hugh Jackman once again reprise the role of Wolverine. While there’s no detail in what part of the MCU’s newly established multiverse this takes place in, it seems at least one casting addition has made its way online.

    Fresh off of the final season of the hit HBO series Succession, it seems that Matthew Macfadyen has decided to join the ever-growing world of superheroes. There’s no word on who exactly he might be playing, but it definitely is a big get given he won a BAFTA for best-supporting actor in a Drama. We’ll have to see if he ends up playing someone that wears a cape or might even be part of the X-Men, who might have a role in the upcoming project.

    The film will be the first produced by Marvel Studios with Shawn Levy of Stranger Things fame taking over directing duties. The script was originally written by Bob Burger‘s Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin. Though the script was rewritten by former Deadpool writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese. So, we can expect a similar humor that made the first two entries so unique. Hopefully, it also carries over the heart that gave us some of the strongest moments in Deadpool’s journey.

    Source: Deadline

  • BTS Pics from ‘Captain America: New World Order’ Provide First Look at Liv Tyler’s Betty Ross

    BTS Pics from ‘Captain America: New World Order’ Provide First Look at Liv Tyler’s Betty Ross

    Just 24 hours after the news broke that Liv Tyler was returning to the MCU as Betty Ross in Captain America: New World Order, set photos have emerged providing a first look at the actress in her return to the role.

    The photos show Tyler, Anthony Mackie‘s Sam Wilson, Shira Haas‘s Sabra and Xosha Roquemore’s unnamed character at a cemetery. The fact that the group has assembled there could portend bad things for Betty Ross’s father, President Thunderbolt Ross.

    Updating…

  • Thomas Haden Church Hints at Sandman’s Return to the MCU

    Thomas Haden Church Hints at Sandman’s Return to the MCU

    Spider-Man: No Way Home introduced the world to the multiverse with the return of some iconic characters from Spider-Man’s cinematic past. Among them was Thomas Haden Church who made his long-awaited return as Sandman. While he only had a brief actual appearance in the film with the help of some old footage, we did get him fully CG in sand form.

    Interestingly enough, the actor has hinted that perhaps there’s more in the cards for Sandman, as he revealed there were talks with producer Amy Pascal and MCU mastermind Kevin Feige in an interview with DisInsider. With films like Avengers: Secret Wars on the horizon, there are many opportunities to have familiar faces return.

    There was just so much going on. John and I and Amy [Pascal] and Kevin [Feige], we all had a lot of conversations. And I would say that conversations have been had about the possibility of Sandman coming into an a future iteration of it. The conversation has happened about him coming back, and maybe picking up a more fulfilling story. You know? With Flint and being not just Sandman, but returning to human form.

    Thomas Haden Church

    The “fulfilling story” he is referencing is the fact that Spider-Man: No Way home included one about his daughter that seemingly got cut at some point. It’s no surprise given just how massive of an undertaking the film was with all these villains and plot lines from across the multiverse it had to juggle. We’ll have to see if we can expect his return sooner or later.

    Source: The DisInsider

  • BREAKING: Liv Tyler to Return in ‘Captain America 4’

    BREAKING: Liv Tyler to Return in ‘Captain America 4’

    No, you read that correctly but Marvel Studios will finally reintroduce Betty Ross to the world, as Liv Tyler is set to reprise her role from The Incredible Hulk in the upcoming fourth entry of the Captain America franchise, Captain America: New World Order. Anthony Mackie‘s Sam Wilson will take on the mantle he took over during Falcon and the Winter Soldier as he faces some new threats.

    For those that might’ve forgotten, she played the role in 2008 and hasn’t been in a Marvel Studios project since. It was the second entry in the franchise right after Iron Man in the same year when Edward Norton was still attached as Bruce Banner. If they have bigger plans for her character, she will also have her first meeting with Mark Ruffalo, who took over in The Avengers back in 2012.

    She’s not the only returning actor from that long-forgotten Hulk film, as Tim Blake Nelson is also finally appearing as the Leader in the Captain America film. While it will also feature her father, Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, the late and great William Hurt sadly won’t be returning, but his character will live on with Harrison Ford is set to take over the role in the upcoming film.

    It’s interesting to see so many Hulk characters in a Captain America film, but it may be set up more in the future. Liv Tyler was actually rumored for some time to appear in a Marvel project. Once again it reminds you just how big this franchise has grown and the legacy it still holds with characters returning we haven’t seen in almost 15 years.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Questlove to Direct Disney’s ‘The Aristocats’ Live-Action Hybrid

    Questlove to Direct Disney’s ‘The Aristocats’ Live-Action Hybrid

    Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson has made a name for himself by winning an Oscar for Best Documentary and it seems that it already kickstarted his career to tackling a live-action hybrid of the Disney classic, The Aristocats. The news has just arrived that he will be making his directorial debut and acting as an executive producer on the project. Not just that, but he’s also set to oversee the music for the project.

    Questlove might be familiar to many as part of The Roots. He also acted as the composer for the project of Vincent N Roxxy and some may know him for his role as Curley in Pixar’s Soul. Though, he might be most famous for his time as musical director on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. So, he definitely makes for a great choice to bring the iconic music from the original into modern times. There’s no word if this will remain a musical like the original or take a different direction.

    The Aristocats wasn’t among Disney’s biggest animated features but it definitely was memorable for its jazz-inspired music. The 1970 classic was written by Tom McGowan and Tom Rowe and has some iconic music composed by Floyd Huddleston and Al Rinke including “Le Jazz Hot” and famously “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat.” The new film is written by Will Gluck and Keith Bunin. Tarik Trotter, Shawn Gee, and Zarah Zohlman are attached as executive producers for Two One Five Entertainment.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘John Wick 4’ Opens to an Impressive $137.5M Worldwide

    ‘John Wick 4’ Opens to an Impressive $137.5M Worldwide

    It looks like people are all-in for John Wick: Chapter 4. The franchise continues to grow and has managed to wrap up its weekend with $73.5M. That would put it above the recent $70M expected opening from 3,855 theaters. It’s come pretty far from the first John Wick‘s opening of $14.4M and has now passed the record set by the previous Parabellum entry of $56.8M.

    Internationally, the film did quite well as it passed all expected pre-release estimates and opened to $64M. As such, the film now proudly stands at a franchise’s best of a $137.5M global opening. Not many films can claim that their fourth entry managed to continue growing the franchise’s box office revenue with only nine managing to hold that title in the past 40 years.

    Lionsgate might also be quite happy as this is the highest opening they’ve had since The Hunger Games opened to $102.6M back in November of 2015. So, it has been a while since they had such a big hit in theaters. The latest film entry did make up 62% of the weekend gross and it was slim picking for the rest. Shazam: Fury of the Gods did slightly better than the expected 70% drop but a 68% drop with a $30M opening isn’t something you want to see, families truly aren’t back in theaters yet.

    Source: The Wrap, Deadline

  • James Gunn Addresses ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Runtime Rumors

    James Gunn Addresses ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Runtime Rumors

    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will hit theaters in just under six weeks and is expected to pack an emotional punch as it will serve as a farewell to this particular group of Guardians. The threequel has a lot to accomplish including making good on Vol. 2′s Adam Warlock tease, introducing a new villain in Chukwudi Iwuji’s High Evolutionary, killing off a Guardian or so and fitting whatever surprises Gunn has in store into its runtime. Whether it runs for 1 hour and 56 minutes or 3 hours and 2 minutes, we know that somewhere on social media, it’ll be criticized for being too short. But how long will the film be?

    According to Atom Tickets, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set to be the longest film of the trilogy–and the longest of Gunn’s directorial career–clocking in at 2 hours and 29 minutes. Once that news got out in the wild, it was only a matter of time before Gunn, who continues to be incredibly active on social media even as he continues on in his new role as co-chair of DC Studios, addressed it. And, as it turns out, that runtime is in the ballpark.

    “It’s around that long, although that’s not yet exact,” said Gunn when asked if the reported runtime was accurate before adding, “and I promise not a second is wasted.” “There’s no fat,” Gunn said of Vol. 3’s plot explaining that “It was necessary to experience the full arc for every major Guardians character, not only for this film, but for the trilogy (or, I should say, trilogy plus).“

    Gunn went on to explain that “It’s just the length of end credits that are being estimated in this running time.” The end credits of Marvel Studios’ films, of course, famously feature mid and post-credit scenes and depending on how many there are, the length of those credits will vary. While one or two is the norm, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 had five stingers spread out throughout and after the credits rolled. Whatever the case, Gunn’s made it clear that the film will clock in around two and a half hours long making it one of the five longest MCU films and significantly longer than the average MCU film, which clocks in at 2 hours and 12 minutes.

  • New ‘Joker 2’ Set Photo Hints at Another Member of Batman Rogue’s Gallery

    New ‘Joker 2’ Set Photo Hints at Another Member of Batman Rogue’s Gallery

    It seems like quite a few set photos are finding their way online from the set of Joker: Folie á Deux. The big reveal came in the form of our very first look at what Lady Gaga‘s take on Harley Quinn looks like. It’s definitely as grounded as you’d expect from the Joker franchise with her mostly having the iconic design from the original on her shirt and the red jacket. It’s definitely a departure from her original design but not too far off from what we see her wear in recent iterations.

    However, that isn’t the only thing that is revealed in this new batch of set photos, as The Hollywood Handle has unveiled one more that includes a reference to another member of Batman’s iconic rogue’s gallery. If you look closely, one of the signs states “Dent is the Clown” in a protest to allow Joaquin Phoenix‘s Arthur Fleck out of prison. Of course, if the name Dent is used in correlation with the law, it can only mean one thing: Harvey Dent a.k.a. Two-Face exists in this timeline.

    Now, it might not actually be in reference to Harvey Dent but perhaps his father. Bruce Wayne is quite young in this timeline, which would make it strange that a character that commonly is teased as a close friend is quite a bit older than him. Though it’s not entirely impossible that they just take this direction and have most of Batman’s rogue’s gallery exist as he was growing up and shape him similarly to Gotham‘s approach.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘John Wick 4’ Eyeing $70M+ Opening as ‘Shazam 2’ Faces Harsh Drop

    ‘John Wick 4’ Eyeing $70M+ Opening as ‘Shazam 2’ Faces Harsh Drop

    We have another strong opening for a smaller budgeted project, as John Wick Chapter 4 is definitely heading for a strong $70M+ opening. It pulled in a strong $29.4M over Friday night including Thursday previews. As such, it is currently on track to $70.6M but strong word-of-mouth might even push it further. It seems that a strong push is through IMAX, PLF, and 4DX locations with over a third being from those types of theatrical experiences. It’s also showing a strong 93% PostTrak with a higher recommendation rate than even its predecessor John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.

    The target audience here remains men over 25, which made up around 48% of its viewership, highlighting their strong showing in theaters remains what is keeping the medium afloat and matches with previous record-breaking releases. Currently, the problem still remains with younger and family audiences that aren’t quite where they were pre-pandemic times, as they could’ve made a difference for more family-oriented offerings like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and even the recently released Shazam: Fury of the Gods.

    Speaking of, the Shazam sequel pulled in $2.35M on its second Friday, which is a strong 80% drop. As such, the film is expected to pull in $8.6M over the weekend. That is a 71% drop from its initial release which isn’t something a film wants with a $30M opening. To put that into perspective, that is a harsher drop than even Ant-Man 3, which at least had a $106M opening on its back to balance it out somewhat. At this rate, Shazam might not even pass $200M worldwide which it would need to break even on its production budget. FAmily-friendly superhero offerings might be suffering the most at the moment.

    Source: Deadline, The Numbers