Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movies

  • ‘The Batman’ is HBO Max’s Most-Watched DC Film in its First Week

    ‘The Batman’ is HBO Max’s Most-Watched DC Film in its First Week

    The Batman has seemingly set a new record for HBO Max when it joined the service back on April 18th. In its first week, Samba TV has analyzed that 4.1M households have watched the film. What makes this stand out is that it beat out many of the day-to-date releases from last year. It now has outpaced other recent DC releases The Suicide Squad (3.5M) and Wonder Woman 1984 (3.2M). Not only that, but it has also outpaced The Matrix Resurrections (3.2M) and Dune (2.3M) but still takes second place as Mortal Kombat remains at the top with 4.3M.

    Even in comparison to the original release, the film has managed to pass Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which managed to pull in 2.2M US households in its first week. It’s a big showcase of the new model, as not only did the film pull in $754M worldwide but became the service’s second most streamed film. It’ll be interesting to see if future releases will also enjoy a similar trend with the 45-day release window.

    Though, we have to keep in mind that this data is from an external analyst. They don’t include mobile views. So, the numbers could be quite a bit different and the placements may be different, but we’ll never know until the streaming services ever release the full numbers. Still, it offers us some insight into how these projects are performing and what may or may not break these newer models that are still going to dominate the market moving forward.

    Source: Deadline, Box Office Mojo

  • Latest ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Promo May Offer the First Look at the MCU’s Living Tribunal

    Latest ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Promo May Offer the First Look at the MCU’s Living Tribunal

    A new promo has just dropped for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. We’ve gotten a fair bit that continue to tease what the upcoming film has to offer. So far, most of the trailers included small teasers of new footage but nothing truly internet-breaking. Well, that may be until now as we get a new segment of America Chavez and Doctor Strange falling through the multiverse which includes a deep cut from the comics.

    If you look closely, you can see the Living Tribunal in the background. While it is only his head, it’s a surprising inclusion. As we’ve seen this segment in previous trailers, they might be falling through multiple multiverses and they are just a few seconds in the same realm as the Tribunal, but his inclusion highlights that the MCU is embracing the comic elements more and more.

    Surprisingly, this isn’t our first time getting a tease of the Living Tribunal, as the last time it was in the form of an Easter egg during Loki’s iconic fifth episode. The only difference was that it was a stone statue of the Tribunal’s head and the face was covered. So, it seems that Marvel Studios is busy setting up the grander mythology of their universe with the Celestials in Eternals and now the addition of the most powerful beings in the known multiverse.

    You can watch the full promo that was shared on Twitter here:

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Rating Teases Horror Elements

    ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Rating Teases Horror Elements

    The British Board of Film Classification has become an essential part of evaluating productions in the U.K. market. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has now seemingly received a 12A rating, but what stood out is that they also included some descriptions on which they base their rating. Even with this rating, it seems that Sam Raimi’s upcoming film will include quite a few horrific horror sequences as revealed by their description of why it got the rating that it did. It offers our first look at just how far the film will push the envelope for its horror elements.

    If you want to avoid any potential spoilers for the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel, then only continue at your own risk. You have been warned.

    There is one section that highlights injury details such as that one “dead body show some stages of decomposition” which is very likely the zombified Doctor Strange we saw in one of the trailers. That is not all, as one section titled “threat and horror” highlights even more aspects of what we can expect from the upcoming film, which offers some promising horror elements.

    Scenes of horror include demonic beings attacking people; a decomposing corpse being reanimated; people being burned by magical powers, leaving charred remains; and multiple ‘jump scares’. There are also frequent scenes of threat, in which people are pursued by demonic entities and monsters, or threatened with magical torture.

    It sounds very promising that Raimi was given full reign to embrace as many horror elements as he could in the upcoming film. Plus, a concept like a multiverse gives them some creative ways of creating some iconic horror moments. The inclusion of jump scares also highlights that they will dabble in some clichés from the genre and hopefully also set up Marvel Studios to further explore horror stories moving forward.

    Source: BBFC

  • ‘The Batman’ Digital Release Ends ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Five-Week Dominance

    ‘The Batman’ Digital Release Ends ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Five-Week Dominance

    It looks like Spider-Man: No Way Home’s reign of the digital market has now also slowly come to an end. After dominating the top position for five weeks in a row, it has now been toppled to the third spot. The Batman has now taken the top spot of Vudu’s home entertainment chart, as shared by Fandango’s Erik Davis. There have been hints that the latest DC film has also been a massive player over at HBO Max, where the film landed not too long ago.

    It’s no surprise that the film would dominate as much as it did, especially with the fanfare it received upon its release. The 3-hour film is also perfect for those that wanted to break it up into pieces and were a bit shy about checking it out by spending that much time in a theater. Families with kids definitely used the chance to finally catch up on it, as they could also watch it in installments. It’ll be interesting to see how long it’ll hold on to that top spot moving forward.

    Dog joining at the second pot is an interesting addition, as the Channing Tatum film did manage to get quite an audience upon its release. Sing 2 is the only other film to hold on as long as Spider-Man did in the top ten. Jackass Forever is a fitting strong performer for home releases, especially with its level of absurdity being perfect for those not sure what to watch.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Nets $610M+ Profit, Highlights Importance of Theatrical Releases

    ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Nets $610M+ Profit, Highlights Importance of Theatrical Releases

    If you’ve ever wondered just how profitable Spider-Man: No Way Home was, it has now been reported by Deadline that the film managed to net a profit of $610M minus all ancillaries. This matches earlier reports from December of 2021, where this was the estimated income just based on the film’s impressive momentum. While it was just shy of $2 billion, it seemingly has reinstated some hope into the theatrical release. Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group president Josh Greenstein shared his thoughts on their belief in the theatrical release:

    Our theatrical model is driving our success and that is our core business. Our biggest movie ever had the longest window.

    Josh Greenstein

    No Way Home also had the longest theatrical window release of 88 days during the pandemic. They are the only studio that has no direct connection to a streaming service but mostly has made a smart move through pay-one TV deals with Netflix (an exclusive for 18 months) followed by Disney. It supposedly brought them up to $3 billion in profit. So, they can dominate streaming without the necessary investment to keep one service running.

    Streaming is additive to our business. It’s not our core business. We participate in the streaming economy strategically with certain films. We’ve licensed some films to streamers during Covid, but our long-term big business model will always be driven by theatrical

    Josh Greenstein

    As Netflix faced its first loss in subscribers with a harsher Q2 on the horizon, Sony’s strategy is pulling off. the only drawback is that films are now dependent on making the most money within a shorter window. Streaming might face a harsh development soon and the dependency on subscriber income will lead to a long-term investment that requires time. One streaming service taking a hit will affect others as well, as the uncertainty of the market remains. For now, it’s going to be quite interesting to see how things develop but the theatrical release will remain an essential aspect of any future strategy.

    Source: Deadline, Deadilne

  • New CinemaCon Poster Offers First Look at ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’

    New CinemaCon Poster Offers First Look at ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’

    It’s been some time since the John Wick franchise grace the silver screen. The last entry of the revenge story hit theaters back in May of 2019 with John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Of course, Keanu Reeves is set to reprise the role once again in John Wick: Chapter 4 but we’ve heard very little about the project. Luckily, a poster has found its way online offering our first look at the fourth entry.

    While it isn’t much, it is our first look at Reeve‘s return as Wick. He still has his trademark hair and beard, but he does seem a bit more disheveled from the last entry. Considering how that story ended, it’s no surprise that he might not have had time to visit a barber. This film and John Wick: Chapter 5 were originally set to film back-to-back but due to the ongoing pandemic those plans were abandoned by Lionsgate.

    Chapter 4 was originally intended to release next month but was delayed by an entire year for unknown reasons. It’s possible the studio wants to hold it so that the fifth film in the franchise has time to shoot so that they can release the films back-to-back in 2023 and 2024. Yet, we haven’t gotten an update on the production start on the fifth entry.

    Many details for the film such as plot and characters remain under wraps but the film will see the return of Reeves alongside Ian Mcshane, Lance Reddick, and Laurence Fishburne. The film has added quite a few names like Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgard, Hiroyuki Sanada, Scott Adkins, Clancy Brown, Rina Sawayama, and Shamier Anderson.

    Source: Twitter

  • Warner Bros. Discovery Reportedly Considering a Theatrical Release for ‘Batgirl’ After All

    Warner Bros. Discovery Reportedly Considering a Theatrical Release for ‘Batgirl’ After All

    The DC Extended Universe is in a bit of a workshop period, as the shared universe is reportedly getting an overhaul in the near future. It’s certainly a fitting timing given that The Flash will reportedly set the DCEU on a new path and see a new timeline with Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne now replacing Ben Affleck‘s version in this new universe. Along with Keaton comes a new Batgirl, one that many fans are excited to see. New reports may hint that we could possibly catch the film on the big screen after all.

    Puck is reporting that Warner Brothers Discovery is debating whether or not Batgirl should go theatrical. The film is currently set to be an HBO Max exclusive film as the company looks to strengthen its streaming content. The recent success of The Batman looks to be influencing this decision as it dominates on HBO Max after pulling in over $750 million in total at the box office.

    This would not be a decision that’s out of the ordinary as Warner Brothers made a similar move last summer with another DC film. Originally announced as an HBO Max exclusive film, Angel Manuel Soto‘s Blue Beetle is set to hit theaters in August of 2023. It was an exciting announcement as it also moves away from relegating smaller projects to streaming-only releases.

    This would definitely be a decision that would delight a lot of fans similar to what happened to Blue Beetle. The film has the star power to carry a theatrical release and draw the crowds with Leslie Grace, Keaton, and the possible big-screen return of Brendan Fraser. The film could make for the perfect Holiday 2023 release as it is set during Christmas and Warner Brothers Discovery currently has no DC films dated following the release of Blue Beetle in august.

    Source: Puck News

  • ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ Writer Teases Shadow as Sonic’s Biggest Challenge

    ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ Writer Teases Shadow as Sonic’s Biggest Challenge

    The post-credit sequence for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 revealed that the few Sonic Adventure references weren’t just window dressing. It was unveiled that Robotnik’s past will come to haunt him, especially with the reveal of Project Shadow. The first tease of Shadow the Hedgehog is definitely something fans were excited to see in the live-action film series, and we got quite the confirmation in the post-credit sequence. Yet, it also opened up the question of just how they might tackle the character.

    While the second entry did introduce Knuckles on the villain’s side early on, he was more misled by Robotnik and his own honor code. Still, having a “bad guy who becomes a good guy” storyline in two films in a row might be overkill. Luckily, writer Pat Casey offered some insight into what makes Shadow stand out in his interview on The GHZ Podcast.


    He’s a match for Sonic, but like with such a different personality. And not like Knuckles, who is sort of mislead. Shadow is driven by anger and revenge, you know? I almost feel like Sonic, when he encounters Shadow, he’s like: “Well, I’ll just teach him about the power of friendship like with Knuckles, bada bing bada boom,” but that not going to work on Shadow, you know? This is like, Sonic’s never had to deal with someone as emotionally damaged as Shadow but he has with Robotnik.

    Pat Casey

    It definitely sounds like they are fully embracing Shadow’s character from the original films. Sonic having a family and a few victories against Robotnik might put him on a high horse. Especially as it’ll be his first time seeing another hedgehog-like him, which may add to his hope to befriend him. We don’t know if we might expect other new characters to get introduced like Rogue or Amy, but there’s definitely the possibility that the cast will grow. So, it’ll be exciting to see what the third entry has to offer and maybe even a more mature storyline as Sonic faces his biggest challenge yet.

    You can watch the full interview with writer Pat Casey here:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YExgbNku6JQ

    Source: YouTube

  • Pom Klementieff Wrapped Filming on ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

    Pom Klementieff Wrapped Filming on ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

    It looks like principal photography is slowly coming to a close on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, as Pom Klementieff took to her Instagram account to share that she has finished her work on the project. Of course, the film won’t release until May 5th, 2023 and they might definitely plan some reshoots in the coming months. Still, Klementieff, who plays Mantis that became a permanent member of the Guardians after the second entry, shared a cake with the iconic “We are Groot” line as a way to celebrate finishing up her work on the threequel.

    Her saying “We are Groot Forever” continues to highlight that this film is very likely wrapping up the franchise or at least the version that we’ve been following since 2014. We don’t know how exactly it’ll warp up the storyline and what members might continue their journey across the galaxy afterward.

    Sadly, there have been hints that a good amount of members might end their time with the MCU in the upcoming project, but many things can get adapted throughout the production process. Yet, Gunn has envisioned this film for quite some time and is gladly returning to finish what he started. Still, it definitely feels like it’s going to leave us with an emotional gut-punch once the film ends up.

    Source: Instagram

  • James Gunn Requested A Few Adjustments to the Guardians in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’

    James Gunn Requested A Few Adjustments to the Guardians in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’

    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is still some time away, but that doesn’t mean we’ll have to wait too long for them to make their return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As the Thor: Love and Thunder trailer revealed, we got a glimpse at the team’s return alongside their latest addition, the God of Thunder. While it seems their paths won’t cross for too long, it does seem like this film will lead into the upcoming third entry of the film. As such, it would make sense for its director James Gunn to have some input.

    Luckily, Twitter user @NerfSolo asked the director if he might have had some say in how Taika Waititi tackled the team, and the director swiftly answered that he asked for them to make a few adjustments. As a lot of these projects are a collaborative effort, it seems that Waititi made the requested adjustments from James Gunn.

    https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1517867561706266624

    Of course, we’ll likely never find out what exactly he requested to change, but it highlights that the directors still continue to exchange notes as they work on the various projects. Perhaps some of the adjustments were made to ease in viewers from that project into the third entry, but Vol. 3 might be mostly disconnected. Last time we saw the Guardians in Avengers: Endgame, they were making their way to find the displaced Gamora, who originated from a different timeline. Going by trailer, it seems they are still doing some work for hire, but it’s uncertain if that may still play into the film in any way.

    Source: Twitter