Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movie News

  • ‘Constantine’ Sequel Writer Teases the Long-Awaited Sequel

    ‘Constantine’ Sequel Writer Teases the Long-Awaited Sequel

    The DCU has recently been semi-rebooted but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still dipping their toes into the multiverse. With the new Elseworld branding, they are still working on projects like the Joker sequel, The Batman 2, and many more. Yet, while it was missing during James Gunn‘s presentation, the sequel to Keanu Reeves‘ Constantine is also still in active development.

    Akiva Goldsman shared some details on the project in an interview with Deadline, where he teased that it was all thanks to Keanu Reeves that we’re even seeing movement on the project. Not only was it his recent success with John Wick, but also generally pushed for it as often as he could.

    This is a credit to Keanu, who endlessly has said, ‘this is the character I want to return to. Finally, he said it enough times that it stuck.

    Akiva Goldsman

    It seems that the sequel will further explore the themes of “good and evil,” a staple for the character of John Constantine, who generally plays the grey area. It’ll be interesting to see how they also address the passage of time and how it may have affected Constantine.

    The character is very much Keanu and the way he and Francis saw the world of good and evil, and the wonderful and authentic noir where there is a world behind the world of good and evil coexist with our world right up close. Beyond that, we are still discovering it as I am writing the script.

    Akiva Goldsman

    We’ve seen a few great interpretations of the character so far. This take is definitely not part of the new DC Cinematic Universe but who knows if its success could also lead to a third entry. Constantine is a great character and the first entry wasn’t a big box-office success story, but perhaps a legacy sequel could change that.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘I am Legend’ Sequel Will Ignore the Film’s Original Ending

    ‘I am Legend’ Sequel Will Ignore the Film’s Original Ending

    I Am Legend will return with a sequel starring not only Michael B. Jordan but will also see the return of Will Smith. In the original film that was released all the way back in 2007, Smith‘s character sacrificed his life. So, many wondered how exactly the film will tackle that original storyline with this sequel.

    In an interview with Akiva Goldsman, who is returning to Warner Bros. in a new multi-year first-look deal, he revealed to be involved with the upcoming I Am Legend sequel alongside the long-awaited Constantine sequel starring Keanu Reeves once again. In it, he teased what we can expect a return to that world a decade later and compares it to the recent success of The Last of Us.

    This will start a few decades later than the first. I’m obsessed with The Last of Us, where we see the world just post-apocalypse but also after a 20-30-year lapse. You see how the earth reclaims the world, and there’s something beautiful in the question of, as man steps away from being the primary tenant, what happens? That will be especially visual in New York. I don’t know if they’ll climb up to the empire state building, but the possibilities are endless.

    Akiva Goldsman

    That is not all, as he also reveals that the upcoming adaptation will just ignore the official ending of the film and jump straight into the alternative ending featured on the physical release. He also highlights they are set to “trace back tot he original Matheson book” potentially hinting at the Vampire-aspect being featured more.

    We trace back to the original Matheson book, and the alternate ending as opposed to the released ending in the original film. What Matheson was talking about was that man’s time on the planet as the dominant species had come to an end. That’s a really interesting thing we’re going to get to explore. There will be a little more fidelity to the original text

    Akiva Goldsman

    It’s definitely a curious decision to just ignore the ending most people watched in theaters. So, it may leave viewers quite confused but it definitely was a better ending and gives them the opportunity to have Will Smith return in the iconic role. Still, this may backfire potentially if viewers are just scratching their heads and wondering if this is some kind of cloning storyline.

    Source: Deadline

  • Kevin Feige Calls ‘Fantastic Four’ A Pillar of the MCU, Teases Forthcoming Updates

    Kevin Feige Calls ‘Fantastic Four’ A Pillar of the MCU, Teases Forthcoming Updates

    It’s been nearly four years since Kevin Feige announced that Marvel Studios was developing a Fantastic Four film. At the time, no details were shared about the project and, unfortunately, in the time that’s passed since the announcement, not much has changed on that front. The studio has provided information on the writers, director and release date but as the project continues to get pushed back, the lack of any solid information about it seems to be wearing on fans. It looks like that may change sooner rather than later, however.

    In an interview with EW, Marvel Studios’ gato grande gave a brief, but promising update on the state of Fantastic Four. Feige revealed that along with the two saga-ending Avengers films, Fantastic Four is one of the projects he is most excited about. “The only other one in terms of me personally and my 23-year history is the Fantastic Four,” Feige said of which upcoming projects peaked his personal interest. “We sort of talked about mutants and that whole aspect to the Marvel world, but Fantastic Four is the foundation for everything that came after in the comics,” he explained.

    Despite the wait, fans are certainly excited as well and, according to Feige, the wait may be ending soon. “People will start to hear more about that [Fantastic Four] soon,” pledged Feige. “We plan on that being a big pillar of the MCU going forward, just the way they’ve been in the comics for 50 or 60 years.” “Soon” is a very relative term. It could mean next week or it could mean July, but with a script complete and casting in the works, desperate fans will hope it’s the latter.

    Source: EW

  • ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Wraps Production With New Set Video

    ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Wraps Production With New Set Video

    It feels like it was yesterday when it was announced that director Wes Ball was going to revive the Planet of the Apes franchise with a new continuation taking place many years after War for the Planet of the Apes wrapped. Titled Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (wonder just how long these titles will become as the franchise continues to grow), the film will explore the legacy left behind by Caeser in a world where apes have become the dominant species.

    It feels like yesterday when they first announced the project with some concept art, but it seems that production has already wrapped on the project. Director Wes Ball took to his personal Twitter account to share that they have finished production with a nifty little video showing some of the early CG used to bring the various apes to life. They are seemingly reusing the technology made famous by the last trilogy, which was a standout blockbuster franchise due to the involvement of The Batman‘s Matt Reeves and it’s fun to get a little look at how they film with these CG-based characters.

    We also get a good look at the production title “Forbidden Zone” which may be a hint at where this Kingdom may take place in the canon of this new franchise continuation. It’ll be interesting to see how he carries on the franchise and if it’ll live up to the standard set by the previous ones. It’s also the first of this new adaptation that won’t feature Caeser as its main character, who was brought to life by the always-talented Andy Serkis. We’re entering a new era or rather a new kingdom.

    Source: Twitter

  • Kevin Feige Details Bucky’s Role in ‘Thunderbolts’

    Kevin Feige Details Bucky’s Role in ‘Thunderbolts’

    One of Marvel Studios’ most talked about upcoming projects is the 2024 theatrical release Thunderbolts. The team’s roster was revealed at D23 and while it certainly doesn’t resemble any particular iteration from the comics, its composition raised the collective eyebrows of fans. Serving as a quasi-sequel to Black Widow, Thunderbolts will see Florence Pugh, David Harbour and Olga Kurylenko reprise their respective roles as Yelena Belova, Red Guardian and Taskmaster. They are set to be joined by Hannah John-Kamen‘s Ghost, Wyatt Russell‘s U.S. Agent and the film’s MCU old-timer, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes.

    Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘s Valentina Allegra de Fontaine has been busy assembling the titular Thunderbolts throughout the first phase of the Multiverse Saga, collecting Yelena and John Walker along the way. While some of the other characters set to join the team don’t come as a surprise, Bucky’s arc in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier didn’t seem to leave him in a place to be a “joiner.” In an interview with EW, Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige talked about the team of what he calls “barely heroes” and Bucky’s surprising inclusion.

    That’s another one. We’ve got a lot of things that start shooting relatively soon. What’s fun about that, and I sort of said this at D23, is that they are barely heroes. None of them would consider themselves heroes. When your de facto leader is Bucky Barnes, that’s sort of all you need to know. That’s the trickle down. But again, it goes to the amazing work that [casting director] Sarah Finn has done across the whole MCU. You’ve got David Harbour and Florence Pugh and these people who are at the top of their game and popping in everything they’re doing. They’re already here and established in the MCU, and we get to build the movie around them.

    Kevin Feige

    So what is Bucky doing on a team of non-heroes? It’s a great question and one that might have its answer in the character’s deep ties to Wakanda. He certainly isn’t in their good graces at the moment so perhaps some time as the White Wolf of Wakanda is in order.

    Thunderbolts is scheduled to hit theaters in July 2024.

    Source: EW

  • Kamala Khan Set to Steal the Show in ‘The Marvels’

    Kamala Khan Set to Steal the Show in ‘The Marvels’

    After Avengers: Endgame marked the end of the road for many of the MCU’s key heroes, Phase 4 introduced a number of new heroes who look to be headed for big things in the Multiverse Saga. One such character, Kamala Khan, will be spinning out of her own show, Ms. Marvel, and into July’s Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels, where she’ll share the screen with Monica Rambeau, another of Phase 4’s new heroes, and Carol Danvers.

    In an interview with EW, Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, was asked to reflect back on the success and challenges of Phase 4 and used the opportunity to gush about Kamala Khan and her role in The Marvels.

    Kamala Khan, for instance, is a great new character in the pantheon. I’m very proud of the Ms. Marvel show. I also know — and this is a spoiler — she essentially steals The Marvels, which is coming out.

    Kevin Feige

    Feige was also asked about the dynamic between the film’s three leads: Carol, Kamala and Monica. “That’s what the entire movie is about,” explained. “There are fun cosmic elements to it. Marvel comic fans will recognize elements of the Kree-Skrull war. And it’s picking up directly after the end of Captain Marvel 1, not in timeline but in story,” he said of the sequel. “But there’s something immensely powerful about seeing Monica and Kamala and Carol together in a frame,” Feige continued about bringing the heroes together. “To me, it’s only akin to the first Avengers movie and seeing the six of them together in a frame. It’s chill-inducing. They’re so great together, and they all have different histories with one another.”

    Comparisons to prior big-time MCU films kept coming from Feige as he couldn’t contain his excitement for the project, especially when it came to describing how in-universe MCU superfan Kamala Khan fits in. “The great thing about Kamala in her show, and now in this movie, is that she’s not unlike Tom Holland’s Peter Parker in Civil War,” said Fegie of Iman Vellani’s character. “She can’t believe she’s with these other heroes, and can’t believe that she finds herself in these places. And that’s fun because we want to be that. I want to be that.“

    It sounds like Vellani‘s trajectory toward stardom will get another major boost this summer!

    Source: EW

  • ‘Ant-Man 3’ Joins ‘Eternals’ With a Rotten Rating

    ‘Ant-Man 3’ Joins ‘Eternals’ With a Rotten Rating

    Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania did not open to considerable fanfare on Rotten Tomatoes with most of the review scores landing it at around 63%. As usual, it tends to go down slowly and as it already was on the border of being a “Rotten” score, it has not passed that limit with 95 reviews to a score of 58%. As such, it’s only the second MCU film to receive this type of rating after Eternals’ ended up with 47% on 406 reviews.

    Is it the end times of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Probably not, and it’s still on course to make quite an opening. There’s also the fact that general moviegoers are analyzed through a separate CinemaScore that could go either way. Eternals had the franchises’ first B score and it’s uncertain if the same will be true for Quantumania. Even the Venom films have a B+ score with a 30% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes critics. Ironically, that film has an 80% audience score, which we won’t see until the end of the weekend for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

    The film’s biggest problems according to critics might play in its favor for those fans just waiting to see the franchise expand again. Phase 4 was known for being a bit more individual with its projects without a proper “endgame” which this film adds to the franchise’s next two phases. So, who knows where it might end up with audiences but it’s hard to say.

    Source: Rotten Tomatoes

  • ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Set for Trilogy’s Best Opening Weekend

    ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Set for Trilogy’s Best Opening Weekend

    2023 is definitely looking to be a much stronger year at the box office with quite a few releases going all the way to September. It’s getting kicked off by Marvel Studios’ latest, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania which is already eyeing a franchise-best opening weekend. It’s currently set to track $120M over a four-day period to use the Presidents Day holiday. The minimum expectation is $95M over three days with a conservative $105M to $110M by the end of the weekend.

    While some may complain it won’t rival the recent releases, it’s a franchise-best as it’s 25% higher than Ant-Man and the Wasp‘s $75.8M opening in 2018. It’s also eyeing a $160M global start, which may include a long-awaited Chinese release between $35M to $55M. That would put it at a global launch at around $280M, but there is definitely potential. As it now opened to rather mixed to positive reviews with 63% on Rotten Tomatoes going by 70 reviews, it’s uncertain if that may impede its success a bit.

    Though, many are looking forward to seeing who the “next Thanos” is going to be in Jonathan Majors‘s long-awaited arrival as Kang the Conqueror. There’s a chance the film may still score a positive A- CinemaScore and even the last B entries weren’t affected too negatively. Eternals was more of an indie film that may not work for everyone (especially with its long runtime and slow pacing), Thor: Love and Thunder took a very comedic direction even for Marvel’s standard and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness dipped its toe enough in the horror genre that may have general audiences a bit squeamish (going by general horror reception).

    The film is currently tracking 15% behind Thor: Love and Thunder opened to $144.1M over three days last year and still went on to make $760M on a B+ CinemaScore. It might seem like a $700M run is possible for the film but that also depends on how frontloaded it is; which is not uncommon for any of these types of films. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever also managed an impressive $828M global run, so even as Marvel Studios remains quite experimental, they aren’t slowing down at the box office quite yet. Only time will tell as we enter Phase 5 and its comparably bigger projects.

    Source: Deadline

  • Marvel Studios Already Found their Story for ‘Spider-Man 4’

    Marvel Studios Already Found their Story for ‘Spider-Man 4’

    Many have been wondering where the announcement is for the fourth entry in the MCU’s take on Spider-Man. We had the bombastic multiverse storyline in Spider-Man: No Way Home that ended in a big way; taking Peter Parker back to his roots. We haven’t seen Tom Holland‘s take since the 2019’s release but it looks like the project is moving forward steadily.

    In an extensive interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kevin Feige was asked the question dropped if he might have an update for the next Spider-Man film and it seems they already have their story done. The only thing missing is “putting pen to paper” by the writers behind the project; who haven’t been announced either.

    All I will say is that we have the story. We have big ideas for that, and our writers are just putting pen to paper now.

    Kevin Feige

    It’s definitely encouraging to know that they are still actively working on the fourth Spider-Man film. It’ll be challenging to see how they follow up something like No Way home, but taking a step back seems like the best direction they could take.

    We got the hint of Parker being left to his own devices without any of the Avengers truly remembering who he is. So, it not only gives Marvel the chance to establish a new trilogy while also taking the lessons learned from past entries. They avoided the clichés of the franchise up until now, so they might have a chance to return to the classics.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly

  • Kevin Feige Confirms ‘Blade’ Begins Production Soon

    Kevin Feige Confirms ‘Blade’ Begins Production Soon

    After multiple delays, it looks like Marvel Studios is finally ready to move ahead with Blade. In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly to promote Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige teased what’s yet to come in the Marvel Cinematic universe.

    In November, it was revealed that Yann Demange had signed on to direct Blade following Bassam Tariq‘s exit. Since Demange’s hiring, very little has surfaced about the Mahershala Ali-led film outside of countless rumors as to when production would start. Thankfully, Feige has officially commented on the film’s production date, telling EW that Demange is in Atlanta now and that filming will begin in “the next 10 weeks or so.”

    You’ve also got the Blade movie with Mahershala Ali for next year. How’s that going?

    It’s going well. Our director Yann [Demange] is down in Atlanta right now. Cameras roll in, like, the next 10 weeks or so.

    Feige’s comments come after reports suggested the movie will begin production in May 2023. As we near closer to the start of production, it’s likely we’ll begin to hear more news on the project, especially if rumors are to be believed that Milan Ray is no longer involved in the project due to scheduling conflicts.

    Blade is currently set to hit theaters on Sept. 6th, 2024.

    Source: EW.