Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Movies

  • ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Merch Offers First Look at Rhintra and Mordo’s New Look

    ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Merch Offers First Look at Rhintra and Mordo’s New Look

    It looks like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness merchandise is slowly finding its way online. We’ve got a few teases of what’s to come and there have been quite a few rumors on how or who won’t appear in a film. A few weeks ago, a toy leak gave us a hint at what would be included, such as comic-inspired ones for Sleepwalker and D’Spayre. Well, they finally arrived and include some surprising reveals, such as our first look at Rhintra and Baron Mordo’s new look for the upcoming film. @Preterniadotcom shared the first look which you can check out here:

    https://twitter.com/preterniadotcom/status/1471516231857577985

    It seems that Baron Mordo now goes by Master Mordo in the new listings and is rocking a great new look. We still don’t know what the film has in store for him and if we might see mother Variants of the character. As we’re about to set out into the multiverse, there seem to be the dangers of endless potential, as who knows if even Doctor Strange will always be the same person.

    Source: Twitter

  • Warner Bros. Interested in Developing More ‘Harry Potter’ Spinoffs

    Warner Bros. Interested in Developing More ‘Harry Potter’ Spinoffs

    The Wizarding World is still going strong, with the latest entry in the Fantastic Beasts series set to hit theaters in April. However, it doesn’t seem like The Secrets of Dumbledore will be the final film in the wildly popular franchise that started with the original Harry Potter book and continued through at least eleven movies. In a recent conference hosted by Bloomberg, Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff commented on the future of Potter at the company:

    We would love to develop more original Harry Potter series, and we regularly talk to J.K. Rowling and her team. It’s got to be right though. Whatever we do has to be true to the canon, and true to the ethos of the Wizarding World, and who Harry is.

    Ann Sarnoff

    The quote is especially interesting considering Sarnoff‘s use of the word “original”. Both of the series currently in existence, Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts, originate from literary works by author J.K. Rowling. The British writer is a controversial figure, but she’s remained very involved with the characters who made her famous.

    Each Fantastic Beasts film has been plotted by the creative, who continues to expand her own universe through live-action projects. It would seem the plan is for this to continue, possibly with Rowling outlining completely new stories without any basis in literature. Fans will have to keep their eyes out for any possible announcements on the horizon. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is currently eyeing a release in theatres on April 15th.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Warner Bros. Committed to Theatrical Releases in 2022

    Warner Bros. Committed to Theatrical Releases in 2022

    Warner Bros. shook the market when they decided to go for day-and-date releases of all their 2021 films. While some directors have openly discussed their disappointment in the decision, it made sense given the uncertainty of how long the pandemic would continue to drag on. Now, we’re about to enter the next year, and Warner Bros. CEO, Ann Sarnoff, has opened up on if they had considered also tackling a similar release for 2022 even with the pandemic still an issue for many. When interviewed at a conference by Bloomberg Wednesday, she discussed how they are now committed to theatrical releases in the new year.

    Have we thought about going back to day and date? Sure, we thought about it, but we have made our commitments to the theaters to the agents to the talent. Everyone was hoping we would be on the other side of the pandemic by now

    The releases would affect projects like The Batman, which they are definitely expecting to fill out theaters once it releases in March. The Secret of Dumbledore, which continues the ever-popular Harry Potter franchise, will follow in April as both kick-offs a strong year for the company. As things are calming down somewhat, it’s great that studios are committing to once again promoting theatrical releases and ensure the media moving forward.

    The good balance lies in the new release windows. Those that miss out on a theatrical release will get access to it on HBO Max within a faster time, a similar strategy we’ve seen Disney+ tackle with their releases like Encanto already going out during Christmas. It’ll be interesting to see how this new direction might change our understanding of cinema and streaming moving forward.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Amy Pascal Open to a Possible Blade-Morbius Crossover

    Amy Pascal Open to a Possible Blade-Morbius Crossover

    If the trailers for Spider-Man: No Way Home are any indication, no villain is truly off the table for Marvel Studios. The film is set to be a crossover of multiple Spider-Man franchises, with characters from both the iconic Sam Raimi films and the cult favorite Marc Webb movies set to appear in the MCU film. With this in mind, it doesn’t seem far-fetched that other characters from Sony’s Spider-Man Universe could show up in the MCU as well.

    This is the same thing Geeks of Color must have been thinking when they asked Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige and longtime Spider-Man producer Amy Pascal what they thought about the potential of a Blade and Morbius meet-up happening somewhere down the line. After Feige pondered the question enthusiastically, Pascal took charge with an answer:

    Blade and Morbius, that’s a cool idea. We, uh, y’know – the future…You never know what’s going to happen. There are all sorts of possibilities.

    Amy Pascal

    The response is not a straight-up rejection of the question, but it isn’t a full confirmation either. Blade and Morbius have a long history together in the pages of Marvel’s comic books. The vampiric duo has been both friend and foe, battling each other and teaming up as part of the supernatural group the Midnight Sons. Morbius was even set to be the main antagonist of Blade II at one point, which is a deleted scene from Blade featuring a distant look at the character. While that never came to pass, it doesn’t seem like the people in charge of the pair’s future are opposed to making it happen at some point.

    Source: Geeks of Color

  • ‘No Way Home’ The Highest Rated Live-Action Spider-Man Film on Rotten Tomatoes

    ‘No Way Home’ The Highest Rated Live-Action Spider-Man Film on Rotten Tomatoes

    It’s never easy to finish a trilogy. There are high expectations on how you end what would normally be the final part of your series and build upon what came before. First reactions and early reviews hinted at Spider-Man: No Way Home being one of the few threequels to manage exactly that. And now, the film has become the highest-rated live-action adaptation of Spider-Man on Rotten Tomatoes with 95%. It’s not the highest-rated project overall, as that title still belongs to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse at 97%, but it seems that multiversal storylines featuring the webhead are critical darlings.

    to put that into comparison, the last two MCU entries featuring the webhead were also rated fresh by the service. Homecoming was the highest-rated for some time with 92% while its sequel Far From Home stands at 80%. Tobey Maguire’s trilogy saw a stronger one with its third entry, as the first one stands at 90%, the much-beloved sequel Spider-Man 2 has a 93% rating while the final one dropped down to a still-fresh rated 63%.

    Andrew Garfield‘s run didn’t have a strong high with the first entry from 2012 starting at 72% while its sequel dropped down and is currently the only non-fresh rated live-action Spider-Man film with 52%. As Sony is definitely thinking about a future for Tom Holland’s run as the character, it’ll be interesting to see if it can carry over the momentum.

    Source: Rotten Tomatoes

  • Denis Villeneuve Set To Direct Arthur C. Clarke’s ‘Rendezvous with Rama’

    Denis Villeneuve Set To Direct Arthur C. Clarke’s ‘Rendezvous with Rama’

    Dune‘s success has caused a resurgence of ambitious sci-fi in mainstream cinema. In addition to the announcement of a sequel to Villeneuve‘s new franchise, we now received word that Warner Bros. has plans to adapt Hyperion, another genre classic. Today, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the director will tackle the adaptation of another sci-fi novel, this time by Arthur C. Clarke, the mastermind behind 2001: A Space Odyssey, titled Rendezvous with Rama.

    The story of Rendezvous with Rama follows a group of human space explorers that are tasked with intercepting an alien starship that is hurtling through the solar system. It is believed that the missions will lead to mankind’s first contact with alien intelligence.

    The film will be produced for Alcon Entertainment Studios and Morgan Freeman will be one of the producers. At the moment, Villeneuve has plenty of projects he’s actively working on. In addition to the film adaptation of Clarke‘s book, he has the mentioned sequel to Dune (and a potential third installment), the Dune: Sisterhood series, the HBO limited series The Son with Jake Gyllenhaal, and the long-announced Cleopatra, where Angeline Jolie at one point was involved.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Sony Expecting a $150M Domestic Opening for ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

    Sony Expecting a $150M Domestic Opening for ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

    We’ve been covering the box office for quite some time now. It’s been a rough year with the pandemic closing down cinemas for extended periods. After 2020, the new year started with a bang as Godzilla vs. Kong, F9: The Fast Saga and Black Widow started the return for the local box office to recover. So far, only Venom: Let There Be Carnage managed to inch close to it with around $90M in October. It seems like Spider-Man: No Way Home is pretty much set to break pandemic records, but it seems there’s some debate between predictions.

    Sony seems to be taking a more conservative route, which makes sense. You never know how the box office may play during these uncertain times. As such, Sony is going in with a more conservative approach and predicting the film will make at least $100M with a potential high at around $150M. If you remember, we’ve shared predictions that saw the film even managing upward of $250M even during earlier predictions. Exhibitor Relations’ Jeff Bock, a senior analyst, believes that the impressive aspect will be its legs going into the new year:

    Spider-Man: No Way Home’ isn’t just the most anticipated movie of the holiday season, it’s the most anticipated movie of the year. As we’ve seen from countless other superhero flicks in 2021, audiences will not only break the box office opening weekend, but have legs for months

    Jeff Bock

    Some time ago, early predictions and pre-sales already had the film en route to pass the $200M benchmark, which would be quite impressive even during non-pandemic times. Spider-Man: Homecoming made $117M back in 2017 with Spider-Man: Far From Home gaining $92M. Yet, even with a weaker opening weekend, the film managed to surpass the previous entry and even race past the $1B mark. Still, in these times it’s difficult to say if No Way Home would even manage a similar feat. You can be sure everyone’s going to keep a close eye on its release.

    Source: CNBC, The Numbers

  • James Cameron Offers Updates and First Look at ‘Avatar’ Sequels

    James Cameron Offers Updates and First Look at ‘Avatar’ Sequels

    We’ve been long waiting for an update on 2009’s Avatar film. No, not The Last Airbender but James Cameron‘s science fiction space opera that he was working on for many years. It’s been over ten years and the ambitious director teased that he’s not only working on one but four sequels of the original. The brand is now under the Disney umbrella after they purchased 20th Century Fox. After a long bout of silence, Cameron has finally opened up on the sequel and even offered some insight into the upcoming projects.

    It sounds kind of nuts, the process. I mean, if Avatar hadn’t made so much damn money, we’d never do this — because it’s kind of crazy

    James Cameron

    While we still don’t have an official title, the story of the first sequel will take place 14 years after the original. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), in his new homegrown Na’vi body, has settled down with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and has started a family. The film this time around will be less bout them but their children. Producer Jon Landau shared that family will be at the heart of these sequels moving forward:

    AVATAR 2

    Ultimately, the sequels are a story about family, and the lengths parents will go through to keep that family together and keep them safe. I always say that Jim’s movies have universal themes — and really, there’s no more universal theme than family

    Jim Landau

    The long-held rumors are true as the first two entries will focus on the ocean and introduce a clan of reef-dwelling Na’vi, who goes by the name Metkayina. The Titanic director is well known for his work in ocean conservation. So, he wanted to combine his love of filmmaking and exploring the ocean into one project. The reason production took so long was that their performance-capture technology wouldn’t work underwater, which they had to adapt.

    AVATAR 2

    Production has wrapped on the first two entries of the franchise with Avatar 3 heading for a 2024 release. The reasoning it’s still planned to release this late is due to the focus on giving Weta enough time to bring the effects to life. The last two entires won’t release until 2026 and 2028 respectively.

    What we are doing now, from a story standpoint and a world standpoint, is on a much larger scale. That’s both exciting and challenging. We are putting much more detail, first and foremost, into the performances of the cast, but we’re [also] putting much more detail and diversity into the world that we are creating.

    Jim Landau

    Cameron has shared his fear that the films may not make the money he hopes they will, especially with how much money they’ll cost to make. Yet, 20th Century Fox and subsequently Disney have put a lot of trust into the director to bring four high-budget sequels together. Avatar was surpassed by Avengers: Endgame as the highest-earning film of all time only to take it back with a China re-release. It’ll be interesting to see if the wait was well worth it for everyone involved.

    Source: Entertainment Weekly

  • ‘Sweet Tooth’s Jim Mickle to Adapt Donny Cates ‘God Country’ for Netflix

    ‘Sweet Tooth’s Jim Mickle to Adapt Donny Cates ‘God Country’ for Netflix

    Jim Mickle made a name for himself as the co-creator of Netflix’s hit series Sweet Tooth. Now, he’s locked in his next project as he’s going to adapt Donny Cates‘ God Country for Netflix with Legendary, who is also working on the Enola Holmes and live-action Gundam films. and AfterShock Media developing the project. He’ll direct the project and is co-writing the script alongside Cates.

    The story is about Emmet Quinlan. A widower who suffers from dementia is brought back to his prime through a magical sword that he found in the wreckage after a tornado hit. Now, it’s his only tool to protect his family after creatures from another world start threatening his home in search of his newfound powers. Cate‘s has made a name for himself for his work on the Venom series and wrote the six-issue series with Geoff Shaw bringing it to life with his art.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Kevin Feige: “There Are Ideas” for Harry Styles’ Starfox

    Kevin Feige: “There Are Ideas” for Harry Styles’ Starfox

    While Harry Styles‘ appearance in the Eternals never turned out to be the surprise it was intended to be (star Salma Hayek gave it away well before the film debuted), it still thrilled fans of the talented star. Styles popped in during a mid-credit scene where he was introduced by Pip the Troll as Eros, brother of Thanos. Any concerns of Eros being of a similar mind to his brother, the Mad Titan, were quickly erased as it was made clear that Eros, aka Starfox, was there to help.

    While the scene was a clear set up for a potential sequel to Eternals, Marvel Studios’ brass has yet to give a green light to a second film. Even without an Eternals sequel, Styles’ character could still have a bright future in the MCU given his comic book counterpart rubbed shoulders with any and every Cosmic hero and was, at one time, an Avenger. Marvel Studios One-Above-All, Kevin Feige, was asked about Styles at last night’s premiere of Spider-Man: No Way Home and gushed about the star and his potential future in the MCU:

    That was a fun one…that was a fun teaser tag at the end of the movie. We have a lot of fans-outside the studio, of course-but within the studio, of Starfox, of that character, Eros. So as the MCU has continued into the cosmic arena, there are ideas.

    While Starfox’s comic book history is, to put it mildly, problematic and not fit for Marvel Studios’ projects (or any projects, really), having a star like Styles attached as they redefine the character for the MCU shows just how astute and forward thinking Feige and crew are. Much like Hawkeye star Hailee Steinfeld, Styles comes to the MCU with a huge fanbase that will back any and every project in which he’s involved…and it seems like Feige might just be one of them, himself.