Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movie News

  • ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ Co-director Joaquim Dos Santos Says the Sequel is “Five Films in One”

    ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ Co-director Joaquim Dos Santos Says the Sequel is “Five Films in One”

    Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is one of the year’s most anticipated films. The sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has high standards to live up to given how beloved and nearly universally praised its predecessor was and the team of creatives behind the it knew they couldn’t get away with “more of the same.” To that end, the film is set to take Miles Morales,voiced one again by Shameik Moore, on a trip that co-writer Phil Lord says “goes hard.” What story did Lord and co-writer Christopher Miller concoct that lead Moore to proclaim that the sequel’s story “tops the first”? Nothing short of a cross-dimensioal adventure set to take Miles to FIVE different universes.

    Our contract with the audience is to bring them something they’ve never seen before

    Christopher Miller

    As opposed to the much criticized dimension hopping in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, each of Across the Spider-Verse ‘s alternate dimensions is a “robust place” according to Co-director Joaquim Dos Santos. “We’ve made five films in one,” continued Dos Santos, referring to the five different universes Miles and audiences will visit in the project. One of those universes, a 2099 universe set in Nueva York, is home to Oscar Isaac‘s Miguel O’Hara, who serves as a prickly companion of Miles and Gwen Stacey, whose Earth-65 will be explored as well. Across the Spider-Verse will also visit Mumbatten, home to Spider-Man Pavitr Prabhakar, New London, home to the rad Spider-Punk, and another dimension that’s remaining top secret for the time being.

    If the sky was the limit last time, the sky is now the floor. We’re stepping on it and looking at Jupiter!

    Shameik Moore

    After a long, long wait, fans of the animated adventure can start counting in terms of weeks and days now as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘s June 2nd release date is almost here!

    Source: Empire

  • Chloé Zhao Reacts to ‘Eternals 2’ Rumors

    Chloé Zhao Reacts to ‘Eternals 2’ Rumors

    The rumor mill for Marvel has been going in full force. While many complain there are too many projects rolling out, it seems like there are countless more that are simply rumors without any actual release or even an official announcement. Still, among those that have long been hinted at potentially being in development was the sequel to Chloé Zhao‘s Eternals.

    Up until now, it was just a rumor based on some theories. The first film wasn’t a critical darling and faced similar harsh criticism like the recent Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Yet, there was still a lot of potential in exploring these characters and the vastly unique sci-fi world offered at the end of the story. When asked in an interview with Hollywood Reporter if there was any truth to these rumors, Zhao gave a curious defensive reaction.

    No comment.

    Chloé Zhao

    It’s not the kind of reaction you’d usually get, as many would just talk about the possibility of directing a sequel and returning to that world. Yet, the very direct “no comment” opens up the possibility that there are talks that she’s not going to risk talking about. Of course, that is also just an overanalysis of how some tended to react when they didn’t want to risk giving away any information. Still, we’ll have to probably wait quite sometime before we find out what exactly the future has in store for the Eternals moving forward.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Ted Lasso’ Star Joins ‘Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning’ Sequel

    ‘Ted Lasso’ Star Joins ‘Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning’ Sequel

    Tom Cruise has continued to put on a show to highlight just how far he’ll go to create a cinematic action spectacle. While impressive, he’s not the only one that makes the films he stars in what they are and it seems that the second part of Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning has just added another member to its cast.

    Ted Lasso star and Emmy-winner Hannah Waddingham has been added to the project to star opposite Tom Cruise. The first part titled Dead Reckoning Part One is set to release in July with the sequel following next year in June. For now, who she is playing and what we can expect from the story is still being kept under wraps.

    Waddingham has made a name for herself playing the character of Rebbeca in Ted Lasso. She’s been slowly gathering new projects as the Apple TV+ series is coming to an end and Mission Impossible is definitely a big franchise someone wants to get involved with. Plus, she also joined the upcoming Fall Guy film starring Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling. So, it seems she’s already gotten quite a few good projects to add to her filmography.

    Source: Deadline

  • Tom King May Have Confirmed James Gunn Will Direct ‘Superman: Legacy’

    Tom King May Have Confirmed James Gunn Will Direct ‘Superman: Legacy’

    While Marvel is still as omnipresent as ever, James Gunn‘s involvement as the new co-CEO of DC Studios has opened up many new opportunities for the long-dormant DC Cinematic Universe. Earlier this year he unveiled the first “Chapter” which will consist of some returning favorites and feature new faces, most notably another reboot for Superman.

    With a title like Superman: Legacy, the new take seems like a promising re-entry into the character’s roots. Zack Snyder‘s time with the character was steeped in a more mythological and darker place with many long-time fans hoping to see the more cheerful and optimistic vision brought to the screen. While Gunn is confirmed as the writer, long-time DC Comics writer may have confirmed he’s also going to direct the project.

    James Gunn is a super nerd and he’s super creative. He’s both the writer and director of the Superman movie, and he’s sort of the creative force behind all of this…and he reached out to a group of screenwriters and myself, fantastic, amazing whose names he’s put out there, and to work on making these movies and tv shows as good as they can be. And it was his way of saying, you know, we need nerds in the room we need writers and that this sort of DC renaissance, this DC revolution, is going to be very much a storytelling, it’s story first, we want to tell fantastic stories. That is where we are starting, stopping.”

    Gunn has proven his love for the character time and time again. And he usually ends up directing projects he writes, especially something as important as the film that’ll truly kick off his new universe. It’ll be interesting to see how much time he’ll have working on this project while spearheading an entire cinematic universe, but that is likely why he’s joined by Peter Safran to keep this vision alive.

    You can check out the full interview here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCFHERop9HI

    Source: YouTube via Heroic Hollywood

  • ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Early Projections Eyeing $100M+ Easter Opening

    ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Early Projections Eyeing $100M+ Easter Opening

    The long-awaited return o Super Mario to the silver screen is almost upon us. While they took a safer route and avoided a live-action take on the classic plumber and his brother Luigi, The Super Mario Bros. Movie offers a fantastical look at the iconic Mushroom Kingdom through the lens of Illumination’s animation style.

    It’s avoided the usual trappings of that production studio so far with some impressive trailers and very promising visuals highlighting just how involved Nintendo was in bringing their biggest mascot to life. Now, early projects are already seeing some positive development for the April release.

    As it stands, the film is likely to open somewhere between $71M to $105M. The project is hard to truly pin down on just how successful it’ll be but seems like a very possible front-loaded must-see for those growing up with the character. Chris Pratt‘s casting as the main character though has softened some expectations as the Social Media buzz is surprisingly lower than what was expected.

    Though game adaptations aren’t always box office hits, Illumination has quite a strong track record with how they push their projects. Just last year, Minions 2: The Rise of Gru made a huge splash in theaters and adds to the potential that this film’s release with an iconic mascot as Mario offers. For now, we can only see how media buzz increases as we get closer to the film’s release.

    Source: Box Office Pro

  • RUMOR: Marvel Studios’ ‘Blade’ May Have Found its Cinematographer

    RUMOR: Marvel Studios’ ‘Blade’ May Have Found its Cinematographer

    We’ve long been wondering what Marvel Studios has planned for their unique take on Blade. There hasn’t been much news on the project that seemingly went through quite a turbulent production cycle before any cameras got rolling. Once it lost its initial director Bassam Tariq, it seemed like the project might end up getting pushed back further and further away. Then we heard that they are completely reworking the script with Beau DeMayo‘s involvement rumored before Michael Starrbury was confirmed.

    It took some time before Mahershala Ali‘s Blade truly picked up steam once Lovecraft Country director Yann Demange was confirmed as the new director. The film is still set to start production sometime this year and Cosmic Circus may have uncovered some more from the project hinting that the cameras might get rolling sooner rather than later. According to them, Matthew Libatique has joined the project as its cinematographer.

    What is interesting is that this isn’t his first Marvel project. LIbatique not only worked on Venom but also was the director of photography on the original Iron Man. He’s also been quite busy with his work on the recent releases of The Whale and Don’t Worry Darling. He also was involved with the DC film Birds of Prey, and has quite an extensive resumé. It’ll be interesting to see what he brings to this gothic take on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whatever it may be, here’s hoping that the film starts rolling sooner rather than later.

    Source: Cosmic Circus

  • RUMOR: Marvel Studios to Cast a Jewish Actor for ‘Fantastic Four’s The Thing

    RUMOR: Marvel Studios to Cast a Jewish Actor for ‘Fantastic Four’s The Thing

    In the world of Marvel Studio’s castings, the discussions surrounding the Fantastic Four might have been the most trailblazing. Everyone is excited to finally know who will play Marvel’s First Family in their first Marvel Cinematic Universe adaptation. After a decent comedy spin and a dreadful reimagining, it was time to see these iconic characters reunited once again as part of a bigger universe.

    Ever since the project lost Jon Watts as a director, many were wondering what the future might hold for the project. WandaVision‘s Matt Shakman took over the project and hinted that castings have yet to truly being. Many rumored front runners have found their way online for Mr. Fantastic with some hoping to see the return of John Krasinski after Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, or rumors surrounding Penn Badgley, Dev Patel, and countless others.

    Now, it seems that we have a new rumor stirring the pot but this time for the casting of The Thing, better known as Ben Grimm. While no specific name is set, The Hot Mich’s Jeff Sneider has shared that Marvel Studios is actively looking to cast the role with a Jewish actor. They also considered going for a person of color but are focusing on Grimm’s heritage potentially in the casting process.

    That would make him the second openly Jewish character in the franchise after Oscar Isaac‘s Marc Spector in the Disney+ series Moon Knight. Though, there was some controversy in how it was portrayed in that series, which didn’t ignore it but skimmed over some parts that many felt were important to the character.

    Still, we now has the question remaining of who they might cast for the role. The Direct pointed out that Jason Segel might be a popular choice, and has also been among the many rumored for a part in the Fantastic Four film. It’ll be interesting to see if this new rumor might spark a new wave of

    Source: YouTube via The Direct

  • Jenna Ortega Circling a Role in ‘Beetlejuice 2’

    Jenna Ortega Circling a Role in ‘Beetlejuice 2’

    Wednesday actor Jenna Ortega is looking to stay within the Tim Burton universe. It was revealed on Thursday that the actor is currently circling a role in Beetlejuice 2. A deal has not been officially set, however, should one take, Ortega would play the daughter of Lydia, the character originated by Winona Ryder in the original movie. Burton is expected to return as the director for Beetlejuice 2, while Michael Keaton is expected to return as the titular character. The sequel, which has been in the works for a long, long time, will finally kick off production in either May or June in London.

    Beetlejuice 2 would serve as a reunion between Ortega and Burton. The duo worked together on the first season of Netflix’s Wednesday, which was renewed for a second season back in January. It’s currently unclear if Ryder will return for the sequel, although the actor was attached to the project as of a year ago.

    Beetlejuice, which was released in 1988, also starred Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jordan and Catherine O’Hara, earned an impressive $80 million on a $15 million budget. Talks of a sequel being in the works have been ongoing since 2017, however, this marks the closest the film has come to entering production. As of now, the movie does not have a release date.

    Source: THR.

  • Marvel Studios Eyeing Sam Raimi to Return for ‘Doctor Strange 3’

    Marvel Studios Eyeing Sam Raimi to Return for ‘Doctor Strange 3’

    Following Scott Derrickson‘s departure from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Sam Raimi stepped in to take the reigns and put together one of Marvel Studios’ best Phase 4 films. Raimi infused the film with his signature style, providing audiences with a giant walking eyeball, a zombie Doctor Strange and a reminder that Marvel Studios films can be both “comic booky” and fun. Rumors have begun to swirl that Stephen Strange has a major role to play in the Multiverse Saga and that the studio is keen on pushing out another Doctor Strange solo film sooner rather than later and now that they might just have Raimi in their sights to helm it.

    During a segment of the Hot Mic Podcast, co-host Jeff Sneider indicated that it’s his belief that Raimi will return to direct the third installment in the Doctor Strange franchise. Though Sneider was clear that he was not confirming Raimi’s return, he hinted that it was pretty clear that was the direction things were headed.

    Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness grossed just short of $1B at the box office ($955.8M), making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2022. The film’s post-credit scene, which introduced Charlize Theron as Clea, hinted at Strange playing a major role in the larger narrative of the Multiverse Saga and recent rumors have suggested that the character will essentially fill the shoes Tony Stark wore towards the end of the Infinity Saga.

    Despite the rumors, Marvel Studios has not officially announced the Doctor Strange threequel; in fact, Disney Chairman Bob Iger recently indicated that the studio may be less inclined to revisit characters for a “third and a fourth” film in the future in favor of bringing new characters to the screen. Additionally, news of a slow down and increased measures of quality control within Marvel Studios don’t seem to match up with the rumored “fast-tracking” of Doctor Strange 3. Disney will be in attendance at April’s CinemaCon, providing them with an opportunity to publicly address any additions, subtractions or delays to Marvel Studios’ slate, should they chose to do so. Otherwise, fans may have to wait until SDCC ’23, or later, to see what Iger’s return to the company means for Marvel Studios theatrical plan.

    Source: YouTube

  • Fewer Sequels, More Avengers in Store for the MCU

    Fewer Sequels, More Avengers in Store for the MCU

    As Bob Iger continues to reign in the free-spending gunslingers behind Disney’s big brands, fans of those brands continue to wonder what the future will hold. During an appearance Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference, Iger gave some indication of what the future of Marvel Studios may hold.

    On the heels of a pair of sequels that weren’t the critical darlings that Disney had hoped they’d be, Iger indicated that Marvel Studios may reevaluate their approach to sequels.

    There are 7,000 characters, there are a lot more stories to tell. What we have to look at at Marvel is not necessarily the volume of Marvel stories we’re telling but how many times we go back to the well on certain characters. Sequels typically work well for us. Do you need a third and a fourth, for instance, or is it time to turn to other characters?

    Robert Iger

    It’s hard not to read between the lines of Iger’s comments and think about Thor: Love and Thunder and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. The former has been widely criticized for taking the wrong lessons from its much more successful predecessor, Thor: Ragnarok while the latter has been under fire for its drop-off at the box office.

    It’s not all bad news for Marvel Studios, though. Iger is confident that the future, which he loosely defined as the “next five years”, holds a lot of promise.

    There’s nothing in any way inherently off in terms of the Marvel brand. I think we just have to look at what characters and stories we’re mining. If you look at the trajectory of Marvel in the next five years, there will be a lot of newness. We’re going to turn back to the Avengers franchise with a whole new set of Avengers, for example.

    Robert Iger

    Interestingly enough, that newness includes the scheduled MCU debuts of the Punisher, Blade, Deadpool, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, none of whom are new to the superhero landscape, only the MCU; so roughly in the sense that a used car is new to you, though not truly new. Beyond that, characters such as Sentry, Wonder Man and Nova are known to be making true debuts, so it will be worth tracking which of Marvel’s 7,000 other characters get the opportunity to make the jump to the MCU.

    Iger’s comments on a “new set of Avengers” is also worth some thought. After having four Avengers films weaved throughout the Infinity Saga, each serving as “Phase enders”, the studio chose to reserve the Multiverse Saga’s Avengers films for Phase 6. With Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars set to end the Multiverse Saga, the expectations placed on those films is already staggeringly high.

    Source: Deadline