Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Warner Bros.

  • Tom Cruise Locks in First Warner Bros. Project with Director Alejandro Inarritu

    Tom Cruise Locks in First Warner Bros. Project with Director Alejandro Inarritu

    It was quite shocking when Tom Cruise suddenly shifted gears and signed a deal with Warner Bros. studios. After it’s been slowly burning bridges wherever it can with David Zaslav at the helm, he still saw some potential of working with the studio. Now, his first project is a lock as director Alejandro Iñárritu is set to make his first English-language film since The Revenant for WB and Legendary Entertainment with him starring in the project.

    There are still no details on what the film will be titled. Still, Iñárritu will be returning to work with Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris, and Nicolas Giacobone, whom he famously worked on Birdman almost a decade ago. It seems they are going out of their way to keep the latest original a big secret and Cruise has been rumored to be looking for a next role that could give him a chance to move away from his usual big action fair.

    Of course, Iñárritu is quite a powerhouse director after winning two straight Oscars with his last projects. It’s also not the first time he worked with some major names as he helped Leonardo DiCaprio finally win his first Oscar with The Revenant. So, it’ll definitely be interesting to see what these two worlds will offer viewers whenever they start rolling the cameras.

    Source: Deadline

  • Warner Bros. ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Shopped to Other Studios After All

    Warner Bros. ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ Shopped to Other Studios After All

    Warner Bros. did it again. They shelved Coyote vs. Acme to make a tax return just like they did with Batgirl and the Scoob Christmas special last year. Yet, now we’re entering a new era that has seemingly led to some actual consequences this time around. Surprisingly, Warner Bros. is now allowing director Dave Green to shop the live-action and animation hybrid film to other buyers. It seems that Amazon is one of the contenders interested in buying; though it would be great to see this get a theatrical release given the entire history.

    The big development, however, is that the decision to cancel Coyote vs. Acme has revealed that this wasn’t a one-time strategy and has now been leading to some real consequences for the once-major studio. If a film that was tested multiple times in the 90s was going to get axed, many expected that their film had no chance of surviving. It seems a text chain opened due to this tax-cutting decision by the studio which had many creatives questioning their future with the studio.

    This time around, Warner Bros. couldn’t make up the story that it was to protect a brand or that the film wasn’t good, which they hurtfully did with Batgirl. It also seems like creatives are canceling their meetings with Warner Bros. as a result of this action, and we might be seeing CEO Dave Zaslav’s hands slowly destroying one of the few remaining legacy studios just as it is trying to celebrate 100 years. They even tried to kill the TCM department which was only reinstated after big names forced their hands. If you want to know what studio is in shambles, this is a much more telling sign.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Blue Beetle’ Early Projections Heading for a $17M Opening Weekend

    ‘Blue Beetle’ Early Projections Heading for a $17M Opening Weekend

    Yeah, you read that right. Things are not looking good for Blue Beetle. The next installment in the DC(E)U is only a few weeks away from hitting theaters. yet, there’s a noticeable lack in marketing for the latest addition that’ll explore the story of young Jamie Reyes as he becomes the iconic hero. Sadly, Warner Bros. Discovery is not going all out to market the film and the fangs of The Flash’s slip is showing.

    Superhero films have become a dime a dozen, so audiences (especially this year) are more selective about what they want to watch and what not. It’s why we had a surprisingly brutal summer box office with very few real “winners” out there. While some films are managing to leg out, it’s not really rosy for the “big return” of the summer box office.

    As such, the film is currently projected to open to $12M to $17M. Yes, that is what it’ll likely make over its entire opening weekend with a total range not going any higher than $55M. While we don’t know the budget of the film, it’s still a worse performance than Shazam! Fury of the Gods earlier this year.

    While some talk a lot about superhero fatigue, it’s just a blockbuster fatigue overall and people are more selective on what they watch in theaters. Prices are skyrocketing so the expectation on what a film can do is higher than ever before. Blue Beetle was barely marketed and the last two DC films fell flat on their noses. So, it’s just looking like people don’t truly trust the brand enough for it to be worth their money.

    Source: BoxOffice Pro

  • ‘Mortal Kombat’ Sequel Finds its Kitana

    ‘Mortal Kombat’ Sequel Finds its Kitana

    Mortal Kombat‘s next film is finally revving up. Surprisingly, the film had one of the biggest releases on HBO Max during the day-and-date release strategy but somehow Warner Bros. has been quite hesitant about getting the next one into production. While the WGA strike is running, casting is still moving forward for the sequel with the latest addition Adeline Rudolph joining the production as Kitana.

    The actress actually starred opposite Tati Gabrielle in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, who is also going to appear in the film. They are the third addition after Karl Urban was recently confirmed to take the iconic role of Johnny Cage. While we might have to wait a bit longer until we see him with the tattoo of his first name across the chest, it’s still looking like Simon McQuoid is ready to start production on the sequel.

    2021’s Mortal Kombat wasn’t quite the faithful adaptation of the original games that people hoped it would be, but it still offered some of the fun charms. Fatalities weren’t kept a secret and it still tried to establish its own unique take on the lore of the original; though it was weird that the first Mortal Kombat film was more a prequel to the tournament of the same name. Still, we’ll see if the second one offers what the first couldn’t.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter

  • Ava DuVernay’s TV Deal With Warner Bros. Won’t Be Extended

    Ava DuVernay’s TV Deal With Warner Bros. Won’t Be Extended

    Ava DuVernay was a rising star with her projects like Selma, A Wrinkle in Time, When They See Us, Queen Sugar, and more. It led to her getting a massive deal with Warner Bros. TV that would have her signed up for five years, which was worth $100M. Yet, it seems that Warner Bros. and DuVernay have decided to part ways and will no longer continue the contract after 2023.

    Keep in mind, this is not something that was due to the WGA strike but rather was a mutual decision between both parties. There’s no drama involved with this decision but there are no details on what exactly is the cause for this development. We currently also have no news on where she is heading next, as she focuses her work on the post-production of the film Caste.

    It’s not uncommon that some deals just don’t continue due to a change in focus. There’s a chance that DuVarney is simply more interested in pushing forward her cinematic projects. Plus, there might be some disinterest after the DC project New Gods fell apart that she was heavily involved with quite some time ago, and the cancelation of Naomi on the CW. But, if there’s no drama as reported then it might just be a decision to refocus moving forward but we’ll have to see if she breaks another TV deal.

    Source: Deadline

  • HBO Max’s ‘It’ Prequel Scares Up its First Cast Members

    HBO Max’s ‘It’ Prequel Scares Up its First Cast Members

    It looks to have found its first four cast members. The upcoming prequel series based on the popular It duology by Andy Muschietti will further explore the early days of the town of Derry. For now, it only has the fittingly working title of “Welcome to Derry” but it seems that the project is moving forward at full speed after it was ordered straight-to series back in February.

    As of now, four cast members have joined the production which includes Ma Raney’s Black Bottom‘s Taylour Paige, Babylon‘s Jovan Adepo, Oppenheimer‘s James Remar, and Perry Mason‘s Chris Chalk. Fuchs and Brad Caleb Kane are serving as co-showrunners on the project with Muschietti acting as an executive producer through Double Dream.

    Currently, the following logline has been shared for the HBO Max original series:

    Set in the world of Stephen King’s ‘It’ universe, ‘Welcome to Derry’ is based on King’s ‘It’ novel and expands the vision established by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in the feature films ‘It’ and ‘It Chapter Two.

    Supposedly Andy Muschietti will also direct multiple episodes, including the pilot. Fuchs wrote the teleplay for the first episode, but it is based on an idea he worked on with Muschietti and his wife, Barbara Muschietti. It’ll be interesting to see how they might tackle this adaptation and how much the focus may be on Pennywise given he’s an integral part of Derry’s history. Bill Skarsgard, who played him in the last two films, confirmed he has not been in talks to join just yet. So, we’ll see if an announcement will follow.

    Source: Variety

  • Jason Momoa’s ‘Minecraft’ Movie Gets 2025 Release Date

    Jason Momoa’s ‘Minecraft’ Movie Gets 2025 Release Date

    It seems a blocky adventure is on the horizon, as Minecraft finally has a release date. It was in April of last year that it was unveiled Jason Momoa would potentially star in a film based on the popular indie game, Minecraft. While the franchise went on to have more story-focused offerings, it mainly was about a simple concept: survival. In its very simplistic design, you play a character gathering resources and trying to survive the dangers of the night. Now, April 4th 2025 is when we’ll get to enter this blocky world.

    There’s no detail on what exactly we can expect from this film and if they might take inspiration from the Minecraft: Story Mode game or even focus on concepts taken from the Dungeons spinoffs. Some time ago, it was hinted it would follow a version of the female protagonist from the game that was on a hunt for the Ender Dragon alongside a group of adventures; not too dissimilar from the recent Dungeons & Dragons film.

    Steve Carrel was even at one point set to star when the film had multiple directors attached but now seems to be actually moving forward. Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess is still seemingly involved. For now, we’ll have to wait and see what the future has in store for the game adaptation, especially as The Super Mario Bros. Movie faced a surprisingly negative reaction from critics even after positive early reactions. So, we’ll see where the future is heading towards for video game adaptations.

    Source: Deadline

  • Warner Bros. Eyeing a ‘Harry Potter Revival as an HBO Max Series

    Warner Bros. Eyeing a ‘Harry Potter Revival as an HBO Max Series

    The Wizarding World has lost a lot of steam with its latest Fantastic Beast entry, and it seems that Warner Bros. is trying to bring back the magic, as they are currently eyeing a new adaptation of the iconic Harry Potter books. This time around, however, it won’t be a new set of films but rather an ongoing series for HBO Max that would recount all books. The only troubling reveal is: J.K. Rowling may be involved to produce.

    While it makes sense that the author of the original work would be involved, Rowling has become quite infamous for her views online. It has gotten to a point where stars of the original have quite openly spoken out against her beliefs and the troubles that come with it. It seems that her involvement is due to her creative control over the work.

    The project is among the many ideas that WBD has without any talent involved. So, it is in the very early stages and once they move forward, they’ll likely focus on trying to add a writer that would work alongside Rowling to bring this series to life for the streaming service. The plan, for now, seems to adapt one book per season, which would lead to around seven seasons’ worth of stories to explore.

    In a way, it’s not too surprising as WBD has also been quite vocal about wanting to revive its “big IPs” in the past such as recent movements on bringing back The Lord of the Rings with its original creative team involved, or at least in talks to return. So, they are trying to recapture that magic again and push the franchise back into the spotlight. Perhaps moving it to HBO Max is also a way to give it time before its cinematic potential is revived. Just a shame they didn’t create their own story in Hogwarts to make it stand out.

    Source: Deadline, Bloomberg

  • Warner Bros Wants ‘The Lord of the Rings’ to be Like ‘Star Wars’

    Warner Bros Wants ‘The Lord of the Rings’ to be Like ‘Star Wars’

    In a surprising twist, Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series, Rings of Power, is about to get its biggest competition yet in Warner Bros. Discovery, as they purchased the rights to once again create films based around the iconic novels of J.R.R. Tolkien. While their future is uncertain about where they are going with this new take, it does seem they are once again being quite ambitious.

    According to insiders, it seems that Warner Bros. has high hopes to turn Lord of the Rings into their Star Wars. They seem to ambitiously want to explore stories that all take place in the same world that offer different glimpses of this sprawling fantasy world created decades ago. It’s an ambitious thought, though raises more questions on how exactly they hope to achieve it.

    Unlike Star Wars, they don’t have a galaxy worth of storytelling with a franchise that is steeped in a wide variety of genres. Marvel and DC at least have decades of history with a broad range of characters they can bring to the silver screen, yet Lord of the Rings is mostly famous for two distinct stories.

    So, it would be quite challenging for them to not only find a way to create unique stories that could carry a “Cinematic Universe” approach but also somehow keep this very traditional fantasy story fresh. Warner Bros. is definitely ambitious with this project, but it does raise some eyebrows on how exactly they hope to achieve this even if they bring back the original trilogy’s director, Peter Jackson.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Mortal Kombat 12’ Confirmed for 2023 Release

    ‘Mortal Kombat 12’ Confirmed for 2023 Release

    There’s been a long silence on what exactly NetherRealm Studios is currently working on. As we just had the release of Mortal Kombat 11, most assumed we’d see the third entry to Injustice finally make its way to modern consoles but it turns out, they are developing a direct sequel to Mortal Kombat after all.

    During the Warner Bros. Discovery earnings call, they talked about the future of their major releases, especially highlighting what they have planned for 2023. Among them, they talked about the Suicide Squad game that was just showcased during the PlayStation State of Play and confirmed that 2023 will see the release of Mortal Kombat 12.

    The shocking reveal does hint that we’d see an official announcement or teaser in the coming weeks, but it is bizarre to think it was just randomly dropped in an Investor’s call of all places. The fact it’s also eyeing a 2023 release means we’ll likely get a first look sooner rather than later, but if it’s a Holiday release we may have to wait a bit until E3 or any other gaming event later this summer.

    Source: ComicBook.com