Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Sony

  • Sony Purchased ‘Destiny’ Developer Bungie in $3.6B Deal

    Sony Purchased ‘Destiny’ Developer Bungie in $3.6B Deal

    Sony, the company behind the gaming console PlayStation, is set to acquire Bungie in a landmark $3.6 billion deal. The story was first broke by Bloomberg’s Jason Schrier, it appears the gaming giant is looking to expand PlayStation studios by adding the original Halo devs to their portfolio. With this deal, PlayStation is also set to acquire the rights to Destiny as well as any other original projects Bungie is working on, including the rumored PVP game that was hinted at in the past.

    https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1488211489672605697

    It has officially been shared by the Head of PlayStation Studios, Hermen Hulst, shortly after:

    An Official blog post from Sony and Bungie has been released, including details about Bungie staying multi-platform and an independent publisher. Also included are reactions from the heads of both companies. Bungie and PlayStation have promised that Bungie will remain an independent developer and publisher, likely in a move to keep Destiny as a multi-platform game akin to Sony Online Entertainment’s status back when they were still owned by Sony.

    However, there is no word if this is only for Destiny, or if Bungie’s other in-development IP will be included in this approach. I’d be surprised to see all Bungie games across all platforms, especially with Microsoft only promising Call of Duty on PlayStation for the next three years. With both FireSprite Games and Bungie working on competitive PVP first-person shooters, it certainly seems like PlayStation is gearing up to compete with Microsoft’s Call of Duty and Halo franchises.

    Source: Twitter, PlayStation Blog

  • New ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Concept Art Offers Closer Look at Unused Villain Designs

    New ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Concept Art Offers Closer Look at Unused Villain Designs

    Spider-Man: No Way Home has been dominating the box office, as it combined a heartfelt story with the right amount of nostalgia to keep things interesting. Of course, a big part of that is due to the returning villains that many of us grew up watching on the silver screen. Concept artist Christian Cordella has offered a closer look at some of the designs that the characters had at one point in development, such as a new jacket for Doc Ock.

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    That’s not all, as we also got a closer look at how they originally envisioned Green Goblin and even Sandman. While Osborne’s design is quite close to what we saw in the film, the latter was envisioned to appear as a human throughout No Way Home. It seems Thomas Haden Church wasn’t able to return in person, but still voiced the character.

    Of course, a big part of the film’s marketing focused on Jamie Foxx‘s return as Elektro and his revamped design from The Amazing Spider-Man 2. We got a closer design to his comic route and it looks like it was originally going to be a bit sleeker with the yellow lightning on his costume.

    It’s always great to get some insight into how designs change over time, and it’s curious how they wanted to change most of their designs before falling back on what they were iconic for back in their original appearances. Elektro is the only one who really went through a massive change, but that was also given in-universe reasoning. We haven’t seen anything on Lizard yet and they might even have concept art of villains that didn’t make the film like Rhino.

    Source: Instagram

  • Sam Raimi Shares His Thoughts on ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

    Sam Raimi Shares His Thoughts on ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

    Tobey Maguire‘s return as Spider-Man in No Way Home was one of the worst kept secrets in Hollywood. Yet, the moment he returned still became a big moment for anyone visiting a cinema, as the film became the first one to become a massive hit while others struggled during the pandemic. What makes his return so interesting is that the director of the original trilogy, Sam Raimi, also is returning to the Marvel universe with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

    So, the director is slowly preparing to discuss his latest film and In an interview with Variety, he was asked about his thoughts on Spider-Man: No Way Home. He shared his thoughts on the film and also the delight of seeing the actors return to the roles he once cast them in. It looks like he had quite enjoyed the film and the fun of seeing those familiar faces return.

    It was so much fun. I love ‘No Way Home’ and the audience I was with went crazy. It was delightful to watch Alfred play his role, and Willem Dafoe, just seeing these guys take it to the next level. And Tobey was awesome as always. The best word I can say is it was refreshing for me.

    Sam Raimi

    It must be a strange feeling to see elements of your own story make a return on the silver screen. The film managed to find a good balance of continuing their original stories and even trying to redeem them, which becomes a core narrative for Tom Holland‘s Peter Parker. There’s a sense of irony that a Spider-Man film would also be the set-up for his newest entry in the Marvel universe.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Won’t Be Eligible for 2022’s BAFTA

    ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Won’t Be Eligible for 2022’s BAFTA

    It looks like Sony managed to miss its opportunity to nab any nominations for this year’s BAFTA awards. According to Deadline, it seems that Sony has not uploaded their film to their streaming platform, BAFTA View, and as such is not eligible for any potential nominations. They even went out of their way to find a solution, but couldn’t agree on one. For now, a trailer plays for members when they click on the film’s page. They’ve shared the following statement as the voting round one closed on January 3rd:

    Spider-Man: No Way Home did not meet the eligibility criteria for the EE British Academy Film Awards 2022 and therefore did not qualify for entry. As outlined in our rulebook, all films must be made available to voting members on BAFTA View prior to Round One voting closing to ensure fairness and parity for all titles and the film was not made available by the distributor.

    There are some theories that they mainly wanted to avoid any illegal uploads of the film during its strong box office tenure. Sony has not made a clarifying statement on why they failed to upload the film on time, but this year is the first time that DVD screeners aren’t accepted and only the online streaming service is provided, which was started in 2020. The film was already starting its campaign for awards season with many believing it may have some good chances this year, which makes this a bitter decision by Sony.

    Source: Deadline

  • Andrew Garfield Was Sold On ‘Spider-Man No Way Home’ With His Redemption Arc

    Andrew Garfield Was Sold On ‘Spider-Man No Way Home’ With His Redemption Arc

    Spider-Man: No Way Home had to juggle quite a lot throughout its runtime. Not only did it act as a perfect send-off to Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire‘s runs on the character while also keeping the focus on Tom Holland‘s version. Yet, it not only managed to keep that balance perfectly but even gave the returning cast smaller arcs in the film. A highlight for many was the redemption arc surrounding Garfield‘s version of Peter Parker.

    His last film ended with the death of Gwen Stacy due to him not being able to save her. It’s something that stuck with him to this day and is highlighted once he has his first meeting with Peter, who is also going through quite a dark moment. Luckily, the film gives him a second chance to make up for not being able to save Gwen after the MCU’s version of MJ was falling. In an interview with Variety, Garfield shares his excitement about being able to give his version of Peter Parker a redemption.

    Oh my god, I don’t even know where to start with that. It’s too big. Gwen had agency. In our film, on her final day, she shows up. I tried to restrain her from showing up to that scene with Electro [Jamie Foxx]. I knew that it was too dangerous, but she chose to be there. She had a hand in her own destiny in that way, and the movie is about fate. I will say the image of my catching [Zendaya’s] MJ — that was really beautiful and it kind of sold me on the whole thing.

    Andrew Garfield

    It certainly hit many viewers, as Garfield‘s Parker teared up while holding MJ. This moment perfectly highlights how much this film manages to accomplish with smaller moments. It makes you wonder, with the active interest of him returning to the role if there is more to this redemption that can be carried over in a potential continuation. It also echoes strongly Holland‘s Peter story as he also has to find a way to not give in to his inner darkness.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Will “Push the Animation Medium Even Further”

    ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Will “Push the Animation Medium Even Further”

    Animation has been proving time and time again how relevant it is to the current cinematic landscape. There are some strong contenders for this year’s Animation Oscard, and among them is the latest Sony animated venture by directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller titled The Mitchells vs. the Machines. Of course, as it is considered a frontrunner, the directing duo was also interviewed on their future ventures. Of course, the discussion also included their next entry in the Spider-Verse series, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part One.

    While still shying away from any details, Phil Lord did highlight that they are certainly going to push the bound arise of animation with the upcoming project. We technically already got a preview of how Miles’ adventure through the Spider-Verse may reinvent each new universe with a different animation style. He stated that:

    It’s been really fun to have the confidence to go even harder and push the [animation] medium even further and take Miles to places that you couldn’t have imagined whilst making the first film.

    Phil Lord

    It’s certainly ambitious and it’ll be interesting to see just how far they can push the medium. We have no idea how many dimensions Miles may visit in his travel, or even how relevant some may be to the story. In the first entry, we saw that those that came from different dimensions took their animation style with them. It’s a much bigger undertaking changing the animation style with every new world our hero visits.

    Source: IndieWire

  • BREAKING: Sony Delays ‘Morbius’ to an April Release Amidst Omicron Concerns

    BREAKING: Sony Delays ‘Morbius’ to an April Release Amidst Omicron Concerns

    It looks like the few Morbius fans will have to wait just a bit longer, as the film was once again pushed back over concerns with the ever-growing Omicron variant. The film has already been pushed back quite a bit after the pandemic hit and it’s uncertain if they also want to have Spider-Man: No Way Home make as much as it can, as other releases are still struggling at the box office. The film is now scheduled to release on April 1st rather than its initial January 28th release.

    The bigger issue for the film lies in its competition, as April is a stacked release with much-anticipated sequels like Sonic the Hedgehog 2. It’ll also release around a month after the next major superhero release in The Batman, which is a sure-fire hit going by early reception and anticipation. Given its marketing’s focus on highlighting the Spider-Man connections, it’ll be interesting to see if this delay gives them time to define more clearly with which version of the character is connected due to Venom now confirmed from a different dimension.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Could Become Sony’s Most Profitable Release

    ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Could Become Sony’s Most Profitable Release

    Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s success at the box office is quite an exciting prospect. It built upon the nostalgia of the original two franchises that came before it, while also offering an emotional gut-punch of a story that is bound to have people clamoring for more. Well, it seems Sony is in the same seat as Deadline is reporting that its $1 billion global release has already gained around $242M net profit. That’s quite the success within just a few weeks, especially as the film continues to grow moving forward.

    It just passed that benchmark and tied with Avengers: Infinity War as the second-fastest to do so. Yet, there are some concerns that the Omicron surge could hamper its future development and take away the legs it would’ve had originally if it was released in a non-pandemic time. Unlike most releases, it’s still a steady release and there’s a good chance Sony will make $610M in profit from this single release. As the film is already on its way to pass Far From Home, which managed to nab $1.13B, the current predictions see it making around $1.75B worldwide.

    At this rate, it’s sure to beat out the previous entries, which is always a good sign for an ongoing franchise like Spider-Man and has also been quite competitive in the market, which most newer releases not holding a candle to it in its second weekend. Marvel Studios and Disney did renegotiate their terms for this third entry, which means they’ll get a slice of the pie as well. This also solidifies that their continued partnership might be in the best interest of everyone involved, which hopefully ensures a bright future as work is already underway for the fourth entry.

    Source: Deadline

  • The Original Plot of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 3’ May Have Adapted the Clone Saga

    The Original Plot of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 3’ May Have Adapted the Clone Saga

    The (sort of) surprising return of Andrew Garfield in this month’s Spider-Man: No Way Home already has fans buzzing about the potential of his character’s future. While any plans for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 were scrapped when Sony announced Marvel Studios would once again reboot the web-slinger in 2015, the multiversal trajectory of the MCU’s next phase has opened the door for any project to become possible. As such, enthusiastic members of the Spider-Man fandom have already started petitioning for Sony to put a third Garfield-led film into production.

    If this were to ever become a reality, it’s likely the movie’s plot would have to be dramatically different from what was originally mapped out. Garfield is now an older version of Peter Parker, and his dialogue in No Way Home hints that events in his universe played out unlike anything we’d seen set up in 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Last we saw “Peter-Three”, he was engaged in battle with Paul Giamatti‘s Rhino, triumphantly returning to heroics after the death of his love Gwen Stacy. While we may never know for certain what exactly was to come next, it is possible to get an idea of Sony and director Marc Webb‘s general plot ideas from a collection of interview sound bites over the past decade.

    The first hint at genuine story details for The Amazing Spider-Man 3 came from actor and comedian Denis Leary, who portrayed Captain George Stacy in both previous movies. In an interview with IGN at San Diego Comic-Con 2015, Leary was asked his thoughts on the cancellation of his Spider-Man franchise. His response was far more intriguing than could have been anticipated:

    I was disappointed because I’m totally selfish and greedy. I came back briefly in two and possibly in [The Amazing Spider-Man] 3, there was this idea at one point that Spider-Man would be able to take this formula and regenerate the people in his life that had died. So, there was this discussion that Captain Stacy would come back even bigger in episode 3. So, I was like, let’s go!

    Denis Leary

    This sounds absolutely bonkers, but it doesn’t come without comic book precedence. Shortly after Marvel published The Night Gwen Stacy Died, they introduced a new villain to the Spider-Man mythos. Professor Miles Warren, a.k.a. the mad scientist Jackal, would go on to be involved in multiple controversial story arcs that involved him using Peter and Gwen’s DNA to create a variety of spider-clones and revive characters thought long-dead, mainly Gwen herself. This climaxed in the well-known 1990’s “Clone Saga” plot, where it was revealed that the many new versions of Peter and his deceased loved ones were actually all part of a ploy concocted by yet another thought-dead character from his past. I’m referring, of course, to the infamous former Green Goblin, Norman Osborn.

    Chris Cooper had a brief role in the last Garfield film as a dying Osborn, passing away after leaving his “Osborn curse” and the Goblin mantle to Dane DeHaan‘s Harry. According to a 2017 Marc Webb interview with Den of Geek, this was never supposed to be the last time we saw Cooper. The filmmaker revealed the actor was initially slated to return as the surprise main villain in The Amazing Spider-Man 3:

    Yeah, we were talking about the Sinister Six. They were going to make a Sinister Six movie before we did the third one. But I wanted…Chris Cooper was going to come back and play the Goblin. We were going to freeze his head, and then he was going to be brought back to life. And then there was that character called The Gentleman. We had some notions about how to do it…that was going to be the main villain. He was going to come out and lead the Sinister Six.

    Marc Webb

    For those counting at home, that’s two major plot points taken directly from the Clone Saga. Of course, the inclusion of the Sinister Six, which was also teased at the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, does take the film in a slightly altered direction. However, Webb makes a point to note that the super-villain team would first appear in their own movie, which was to be directed by Drew Goddard and was rumored to feature Garfield’s Spider-Man in a supporting role. There is no clarification on how involved the Six and the Wall-Crawler would be in each other’s solo outings, but it’s possible the villainous team would have been a more physical threat to pair with the psychological conundrum of Stacy clones running around everywhere.

    If this seems like a lot of plots for one movie, it’s because it is. Yet, the Amazing franchise was sort of known for putting too much into one movie. For example, the one that tanked everything had a Goblin arc, an Electro plot, a love story, a Sinister Six set-up, and a C-plot involving Peter discovering his parents’ role in an international weapons scheme and the special nature of his own genetics. So, yeah, it seems likely they really may have gone for both the Clone Saga and the Sinister Six…in one film. After all, the idea of cloning lines up with the aforementioned Parker genetics’ throughline Sony was weaving in their superhero movies.

    The now-famous Sony email hack of 2014 also hinted at elements from the Ultimate Comics version of the Clone Saga being used in the future of the Amazing series. In a now-deleted article from CBM, some of the leaked emails were detailed and revealed that Sony executives had actually discussed bringing back Emma Stone‘s Gwen Stacy in the same fashion as her Ultimate counterpart:

    Hannah Minghella brings up a suggestion made in jest by Emma Stone that she returns as Carnage (like in the Ultimate comics) as a ‘thought to consider for the future’ because it ‘could be really cool/sexy/intense to see.

    Email Received by CBM

    This revelation lines up shockingly well with a deleted scene from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which featured the unexpected return of Peter’s father Richard. A resurrection of a similar kind, with the elder Parker claiming to have actually secretly survived his supposed death, comes straight from the pages of the Ultimate Clone Saga story. The potential return of Gwen also could have fixed a brewing problem for Sony, where the cast-but-never-seen Shailene Woodley said she was unsure about coming back to play Mary Jane in the threequel:

    I don’t know anything but seeing as how they picked up the next two ‘Divergent’ films, I don’t know how I would keep my sanity with two big action films in one year. But anything can happen.

    Shailene Woodley

    As previously stated, it’s possible fans may never know what was actually supposed to happen in The Amazing Spider-Man 3. A lot of what is presented here is conjecture, based on short looks into a long, turbulent filmmaking process. Leary‘s claims of revival could have been from a version of the story written before Webb decided on Osborn and the Sinister Six. The information about Stone’s role reprisal and Woodley’s maybe-departure could be completely unrelated. Realistically, however, it does seem very likely that parts of the next Amazing were set to be inspired by the Clone Saga, with Garfield’s Peter Parker conceivably going up against a team of supervillains while contending with “clones” of those he lost. It’s a lot, but that’s what the The Amazing Spider-Man franchise’s legacy will always be.

    Source: Den of Geek, IGN, Geek Tyrant, MTV

  • ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Already Passes $300M Domestically, May Pass $500M By Christmas

    ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Already Passes $300M Domestically, May Pass $500M By Christmas

    Spider-Man: No Way Home is dominating the box office even as there still remains some uncertainty surrounding the pandemic’s current development. As mentioned in the previous coverage, the film managed to already pass $600M. Well, it continued its momentum into its Monday showing with the third-best fourth-day release, as it garnered $37.1M right behind Black Panther‘s $40.2M and Star Wars: The Force Awakens $40.1M. It is currently following a similar trajectory to both films and is showcasing some promising development, as highlighted by @GiteshPandya overview.

    With its Tuesday release, the film has now managed to cross the $300M mark domestically by garnering $31.4M and has now passed $700M worldwide. It’s uncertain how far it’ll go at this point, but a billion box office seems like a certainty. At this rate, there’s a good chance that it may pass the mark by next week, as its trajectory is going towards a $500M by the end of its second weekend. Plus, as pointed out above, there’s the holiday weekend boost that’s on the horizon. So, we might be looking at a potential $1.5B run at least.

    The only real competition the film has is the latest Matrix entry and Sing 2, but they don’t fully share the same core audience. At this rate, it is also performing incredibly well overseas, as it’s going to pass F9 and No Time To Die‘s international grosses (including China) to become the biggest international success since Frozen II.

    Source: Twitter, Forbes