Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movie News

  • ‘Avatar 2’ Swims to Earn $2 Billion at the Worldwide Box Office

    ‘Avatar 2’ Swims to Earn $2 Billion at the Worldwide Box Office

    James Cameron is one-of-a-kind in how his films have a hold on the box office. After the groundbreaking success of his CG paradise with Avatar, he returns after a long hiatus to continue the franchise. All bets were off hoping for Avatar: The Way of Water to make as much money as it can at the box office, proving that there’s a lot more to get out of this film. Even Cameron was openly anxious about the risk going into the film’s release.

    Yet, now the film has managed to pass the $2 billion mark and now is only the sixth in film history to do so. It joins the ranks of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the last two Avengers films, and his own last two projects, Avatar and the Titanic. The film has seen a tremendous performance internationally and managed to pull in this accomplishment even with a subdued Chinese release.

    As of now, it’s expected to pass The Force Awakens and Infinity War at the box office, which would push it beyond $2.07B. The last Avatar film stands proudly at $2.9B while Avengers: Endgame is at $2.79B. It’s still unclear just how far Avatar: The Way of Water may go but there’s a chance it’ll pass Titanic‘s $2.19B.

    As of now, The Way of Water pulled in $598M domestically and $1.4B internationally. It’ll continue to dominate the box office until its first real competition arrives with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania which is sure to leave its own imprint on the box office.

    Source: Variety

  • James Gunn Opens Up on Potential Recasting ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Actors for DC

    James Gunn Opens Up on Potential Recasting ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Actors for DC

    James Gunn is now the new co-CEO of DC Studios. After the franchise was coming apart at the seams with various dramas happening behind the scenes, there was hope that this would finally push the project forward. The long-established actor has also built up a network of actors he tends to work with on various projects, which has led to some concern that he’ll primarily rely on familiar characters.

    Luckily, Gunn has been no stranger to openly reacting to statements on Twitter to offer some insight into how he is approaching this daunting task. When people shared their concern about simply recasting Guardians of the Galaxy actors, Gunn pointed out that his true focus is to ensure that “the actor fits the role and they’re easy to work with” when he’ll cast someone new or familiar in the DC Studios project.

    It’s not surprising that a director would also want to bring on actors he has a past with to join a franchise he’s supervising. He’s worked with a variety of actors throughout his career and very likely has an idea of who might be perfect for a specific role. Plus, it’s not like he hasn’t already brought in new actors like with John Cena taking on the role of Peacemaker.

    There’s also the aspect that once they find directors to tackle the various projects they are working on. Once more creatives join the franchise, they’ll have more opinions exploring how their take on a classic DC character may require a different type of talent. So, once things truly take shape, we’ll get a better picture of what the future has in store.

    Source: Twitter

  • New ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Storyboard Reveals Mysterio’s Original Role

    New ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Storyboard Reveals Mysterio’s Original Role

    Spider-Man: No Way Home may have gone through some of the most changes throughout its production. A multiverse storyline featuring former Spider-Man villains was strongly dependent on actor availability that could make the film work. Plus, some may have only joined later in the pre-production schedule which may have also led to many last-minute changes to make it work.

    Somehow the film still managed to pull it off and offer a nostalgic but very personal storyline about loss. Storyboard artist Phil Langone has shared a new storyboard from the film’s earliest days that reveals Jake Gyllenhaal‘s Mysterio originally had a role in the film. It seems that he was going to be responsible for the death of Aunt May, which would eventually carry over to Willem Dafoe‘s Green Goblin in the final product.

    The mention of “one of” further hints that there may have been quite a few more different potential scenarios on how this sequence came to be. There’s also a chance that they were creating different scenarios to ensure that not every detail would manage to leak online, as the film was surrounded by quite a few leaks building up to its release.

    Still, there’s a lot of potential for knowing that there are plans for Mysterio potentially to return. Of course, this could’ve also been a version from another dimension, as it would’ve been fun to see Sam Raimi‘s original vision for the character with Bruce Campbell in the role. Perhaps we’ll see if some concepts return in the inevitable fourth entry.

    Source: Instagram

  • Kevin Feige Discusses Future Plans for Namor

    Kevin Feige Discusses Future Plans for Namor

    Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has been a multi-faceted success for Marvel Studios as they close the fourth phase of projects. Ryan Coogler and company have been lauded by audiences for their ability to memorialize Chadwick Boseman’s portrayal of T’Challa and continue the enriching narrative of Wakanda. Though one new element from the sequel that’s been met with the same level of praise is the introduction of Tenoch Huerta Mejía’s portrayal of Namor.

    The classic Marvel Comics character made his silver screen debut that came with a highly applauded new origin to boot. Huerta Mejía’s portrayal quickly joined the ranks of the best Marvel Cinematic Universe villains and has left audiences excited about a potential return for the character in the future. And according to Kevin Feige, the wait might not be too long before Namor and the rest of Talokan re-emerge in a future project.

    You know, people who read the comics know that there’s 80 years of stories with Namor that we can tap into. So, where and when, we’ll keep to ourselves for now. But, we think that this is an incredibly iconic character that’s being introduced. Probably, to most people, most movie-goers for the first time. And we expect them to want to see more.

    Kevin Feige

    The events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever provides ample room for Namor to be a major player in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Projects such as Captain America: New World Order and Thunderbolts have long been rumored to further the global-political turmoil existing in this universe. The events of these two 2024 projects can easily provide the impetus for Namor to wage war on the surface war as he threatened in Wakanda Forever, something that has occurred previously in the Marvel comic lore.

    To lean further into Feige’s quote about Namor’s comic history, there are even more exciting territories Namor can explore in the future. Namely, it wouldn’t now be a surprise to see Namor continue his anti-heroic tendencies as a foil for the Fantastic Four. His long-standing feud with Reed Richards could further culminate in the two joining an Earth-616 iteration of the Illuminati, a concept introduced in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and something that would make sense with Avengers: Secret Wars coming in the near future. And beyond that, Kevin Feige placing Namor as a figure in the X-Men corner of the universe is a tantalizing possibility.

    Though regardless of where Namor shows up next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, audiences should be excited to have more of Tenoch Huerta Mejía portrayal in the near future.

    Source: Comicbook.com

  • ‘Friday the 13th’ Producer to Reboot the Franchise

    ‘Friday the 13th’ Producer to Reboot the Franchise

    Horror has proven it’s one of the franchises that’ll pull in an audience. Even during the pandemic, the genre has remained a power player and we’re seeing an increase in more projects finding their way into theaters. Warner Bros. has even decided to push Evil Dead Rise into a theatrically exclusive release instead of streaming, and Scream is also about to release its next entry after the franchise’s successful revival last year.

    It seems that it was just the beginning, as Bloody Disgusting has shared that Friday the 13th producer and director Sean S. Cunningham is helping revive the franchise once again. He’s set to bring a reboot off the ground but that isn’t all. He’s also working on a reboot of 1985’s House and an original film titled The Night Driver.

    There are other classic franchises that might see a return, especially if this new reboot might turn out quite popular. Who knows if perhaps we’ll get a new entry into A Nightmare on Elm Street that could potentially build towards another reunion between Freddy Krueger and Jason Vorhees. With cinematic universes still a big trend, there would be some fun to see some slasher films give it a simple attempt by just offering some classic confrontations between horror icons.

    Source: Bloody Disgusting

  • Missing ‘Thunderbolts’ Artwork May Add Weight to Recent Rumors

    Missing ‘Thunderbolts’ Artwork May Add Weight to Recent Rumors

    Marvel Studios has been busy promoting the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp sequel, but there are a variety of other projects in some form of development. One of the biggest questions surrounded Marvel Studios’ latest attempt at a new group of unlikely heroes joining together to fight a common cause in Thunderbolts.

    It wasn’t until D23 that we got our first official look at the team right after the film was announced during San Diego Comic-Con not too long before. So, many were surprised to get a first look at the team but it wasn’t without any controversy, as some felt the team was too one-note given the number of super soldiers involved.

    Now, just as rumors are making the rounds that one o its most unique additions might not be a part of the film, it seems that the original artwork is no longer available on Andy Park’s Instagram channel and even missing from the official Marvel Studios Instagram account. It was initially uploaded after the panel for everyone to get a high-quality look at what was revealed but its absence is quite noticeable.

    Regarding the rumor, the Internet has been discussing whether one of its key members may no longer appear in the film. Ant-Man and the Wasp introduced one of its most unique villains in Ava Starr, better known as Ghost. She was played by the talented Hannah John-Kamen who had yet to return to the franchise. Now, the rumors are pointing to her potentially no longer being part of the film, which might be a reason they took down the artwork.

    Of course, there’s no confirmation in regards to why it is no longer available on their official accounts. They tend to rewrite these projects quite frequently and who knows if they might’ve taken some of the feedback to heart and want to expand the team beyond the cast we’ve already seen. It would be a shame if the one character with a unique ability would end up not appearing, but we’ll have to see once more news drops. For now, the drop

    Source: Instagram

  • Stephen King Adaptation ‘The Boogeyman’ Getting Theatrical Release

    Stephen King Adaptation ‘The Boogeyman’ Getting Theatrical Release

    In a surprising move, The Boogeyman is now moving from streaming to theaters. The news was announced by The Hollywood Reporter on Friday. Per the outlet, The Boogeyman, which is an adaptation of a short story by Stephen King, will no longer debut exclusively on Hulu. Instead, it will go directly to theaters on June 3rd.

    The decision comes after the film, which was directed by Rob Savage, had a strong test screening in December. Executives and producers seemed excited by the response and quickly decided to re-evaluate their plans for the project. They also got approval from King after showing the film to him. The movie was reportedly made for just $17 million and executives are hopeful that the film will perform like other low-budget horror titles, namely Smile, which was also originally set to be a streaming exclusive for Paramount+ before moving to theaters. That film went on to make $216 million at the worldwide box office.

    The Boogeyman is based on a story that was included in King’s 1978 horror anthology, Night Shift. Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who penned A Quiet Place, wrote the screenplay for Savage. The film stars Chris Messina, Sophie Thatcher, Vivien Lyra Blair, David Dastmalchian, Marin Ireland, and Madison Hu.

    Source: THR.

  • Xosha Roquemore Joins ‘Captain America: New World Order’

    Xosha Roquemore Joins ‘Captain America: New World Order’

    According to a trade report, actress Xosha Roquemore (Precious, The Mindy Project) has joined the growing cast of Captain America: New World Order. Roquemore’s role was not revealed in the report, but it’s possible she could be playing a member of the Serpent Society, an organization that was recently rumored to appear in the film.

    Little has been officially revealed about the film, which will tell the next chapter in Sam Wilson’s (Anthony Mackie) story as Captain America. Danny Ramirez and Carl Lumbly, who debuted in the streaming series The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, will reprise their roles as member of Wilson’s support network while newcomer Shira Haas joins the MCU as Israeli hero Sabra. New World Order will also see the return of Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns and Harrison Ford stepping into the role of Thaddeus Ross, previously filled by William Hurt.

    Rumors about the film’s plot have revolved around the discovery of the precious metal Adamantium on the corpse of the Celestial Tiamut and the pursuit of it by organizations around the world. Should the Serpent Society be in the film, the 38-year-old Roquemore may potentially have landed the role of Rachel Leighton. In the comics, Leighton was a member of the Serpent Society who ended up in a romantic relationship with Steve Rogers. Though Rogers’ time in the MCU is up (for now), the same scenario could unfold with Sam, putting both him and Leighton in jeopardy.

    Captain America: New World Order is slated to begin production on one of the thirty-one days of March and is currently slated to land in theaters May 3rd, 2024.

    Source: Deadline

    Updating…

  • Jason Momoa Teases Big News With DC Studios

    Jason Momoa Teases Big News With DC Studios

    DC Studios is currently preparing to reveal its big plans for the future, and it appears Aquaman star Jason Momoa might actually be part of them. In a recent post to social media, the lovable heartthrob documented himself leaving a meeting at Warner Bros., shouting in excitement and claiming he had just received “really good news”. The actor stated the reason behind his elation was still a DC Studios secret but hinted strongly that it was about his next few years with the company. Before closing out the video, Momoa went on to thank studio heads James Gunn and Peter Safran, as well as Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, for whatever they had just discussed.

    After debuting as the character in a 2016 Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice cameo appearance, Momoa went on to portray the King of Atlantis in both versions of Justice League, both Aquaman solo films, and the television series Peacemaker. When news broke that Gunn and Safran planned to scrap the current DC Extended Universe and restart with their own cinematic world, however, it seemed Momoa‘s tenure as Aquaman had come to an end. Some reports claimed Gunn wanted the one-time Conan the Barbarian lead to stick around as another character, the intergalactic mercenary Lobo, but no official word ever dropped regarding the actor’s future with DC. Now, it seems he’s in it for the long run. What role he will play, though, remains a mystery.

    Source: Twitter

  • It’s Tronnin’ Time! Jared Leto’s ‘Tron’ Film is a Go

    It’s Tronnin’ Time! Jared Leto’s ‘Tron’ Film is a Go

    A third film in the Tron franchise, Tron: Ares, has finally been given a green light at Disney. Jared Leto, who has attempted to get the project up and running for the past six years, will star in the film which will be a direct sequel to 2010’s Tron: Legacy. Joachim Rønning (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil) has entered into talks to direct the film which will work from a script by Jesse Wigutow.

    A third Tron installment has been in the works in one way or another since before the release of Legacy, which featured a cameo by Cillian Murphy as Edward Dillinger Jr., who looked set to be the villain of what was then planned to be an ongoing franchise. Legacy director Joseph Kosinski was expected to return for the third film and in 2015 there was word that a start of production on Tron 3 was right around the corner before Disney pulled the plug on the return to The Grid. Leto picked up the torch to get a third film made in 2017 and now his efforts seem to have come to fruition.

    No release date was given in THR’s report, though rumors of a 2025 release have swirled online for some time. No story details have been provided at the moment nor is the identity of Leto’s character known nor if any of the stars from either of the original films will return.

    Source: THR