By George Robbins
Warner Media’s ‘Justice League’ movie is regarded by many to be a film that was not what fans expected it to be. Much of the film felt different from how fans expected it to be which made many think that the film was interfered with in some way. Even if it wasn’t interfered with, the fact remains that part way through the production, director Zack Snyder had to step down from the directing chair. His family had to unfortunately cope with a family crisis and he could no longer remain director so it was handed over to Joss Whedon. After Whedon took over as director it became known that there were many reshoots that were done to the film before its release. This is why many fans decided that it really was studio interference and they petitioned for Snyder to release his film as intended.
Just a couple of months ago, Snyder confirmed that he was actually working on a director’s cut of the film based on his vision of how the film would work. This version of the film was referred to by fans simply as the Snyder Cut and it was speculated to have existed by fans for a couple of years. That being said, the Snyder Cut version of the film is only now being worked on and it will end up on HBO Max some time next year. What needed to be done before the movie released was that Snyder has to put in his own footage that he planned on using and he also has to put in his own VFX. He was given a budget to work on the new cut of the film, but that didn’t really answer a question people had.
This past weekend was the weekend that the Comic-Con @ Home convention had taken place and it saw a few different things being discussed. Among those things was the Snyder Cut which was thought unlikely because Snyder is attending DC’s own event next month, DC FanDome. It would be expected that this is where we would see more information about the film. However, it would seem that Snyder just wanted to share what he could about his upcoming release. One of the big questions on people’s minds was whether he was getting paid to work on this new version of the film. The answer to which was no and he was, in fact, making the movie of his own volition and he is not getting paid for working on it.
By George Robbins
This past weekend was Comic-Con, but not the one that people have known since its original inception. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Comic-Con was effectively cancelled for this year, at least the usual way that it is held. This year, in order to make sure there was at least something made available, a special event known as Comic-Con @ Home was made up to cover for the lack of an in-person convention. Comi-Con is an event that usually sees thousands of fans from many different backgrounds gathering together in one place. Normally fans would have been able to meet some of their favorite writers or actors who are participating in some form of marketing for their comics or movies. This is obviously dangerous because of the virus as conventions are often considered petri dishes of disease anyway.
The Comic-Con @ Home convention was available to the public as a free online event where people would still get to see the things that they would have at the live event. They also had a digital marketplace for fans to purchase any kind of memorabilia that they may have wanted to get from the live event. At the convention, or actually, on the convention it was announced that there would be panels for many different creators to show off their latest work or discuss things with fans. Unfortunately Marvel Studios declined a panel for this year as they didn’t really have much to show to the general public for this year. The Star Wars franchise also did not manage to make its way to the convention and also skipped it for this year.
One of the panels that did manage to still make it to the convention was the one for the upcoming movie ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music.’ This upcoming film is the third outing for the titular characters and it is a film that many have waited years for. The ‘Bill & Ted’ series is a cult series of films that shows the adventures of two lovable but unintelligent guys who just want to live their lives. The characters, played by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves respectively, have been prophesied to save the world and create a society of laid back people devoted to music. This is what we were left to believe at the end of the second film, but it appears the story is not yet finished. The movie follows the characters and their children as they go on one more adventure.
Those who have waited years for the film are probably wondering why it took so long and what happened on set. These questions were asked during the panel at Comic-Con this past weekend and some of them managed to receive answers. Star Alex Winter admitted that, at first, he felt that another sequel was not really worth making to begin with and he wasn’t alone as others involved with the project felt the same. On top of that, things like actor William Sadler who plays the Grim Reaper in the series managed to sprain his wrist on set while filming a hopscotch scene also happened. The panel made a point to tell people about the work that went into the film and to get people excited for its release September 1st in both theaters and On-Demand.
By George Robbins
Marvel Studios has a lot of work ahead of them over the course of the next year to year-and-a-half. They have been wanting to work on their upcoming projects in some way for the past few months, but alas they could not due to the new rules in place. Filming has become fairly difficult for any studios, though it is still a possibility given that they follow the new production rules that have been put into place. This has allowed projects like ‘Avatar 2‘ to get back to work back in May and gave James Cameron a chance to work on his film even more. On top of this, projects such as ‘The Batman‘ and ‘Mission: Impossible 7‘ are going to also be starting their productions up again soon. With this in mind, studios like Marvel Studios have a lot to think about moving forward.
One of the biggest blows the studio had to deal with just after the pandemic began was the fact that the film ‘Black Widow‘ was supposed to have released. Instead, the release date for the film was moved to November of this year and people now have to wait in order to see the newest film. This has essentially made all of their marketing seemingly go to waste and they probably won’t run another campaign. Many studios are doing this now because there has really yet to be any new releases in movie theaters. Any releases that were supposed to have happened over the course of the next month have pretty much been delayed again. This is starting to look bad for the studio because it seems like movies through to the end of the year are having their release dates pushed into next year.
All of this negativity doesn’t really help anybody though, so Marvel is still going to be moving forward on their other productions. One of those new productions is ‘Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.’ Before they could really get into production in regards to the film, the pandemic hit and they couldn’t start working on the movie. Now that other productions have managed to start up again, the studio is doing the same for the upcoming film. Although the studio is behind due to not being able to work on the films for months, they are now against the clock as they want to get the film out by some time next year. Unfortunately, if things continue the way that they are, they will not even get to premiere ‘Black Widow’ this year. That isn’t great, but it could give them some leeway in taking their time to make sure the film turns out well.
‘Shang Chi’ isn’t the only film that they have in production as they almost always have something being worked on. Starting next summer, they will be starting production for ‘Ant-Man 3’ despite it not even being listed as an upcoming film. One of the questions on people’s minds after all of this was when production would start on the upcoming ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ which was announced as an upcoming film. According to those working on the film, they are eyeing an early 2021 time-frame to start production of the movie in Australia. They are hoping that things with the pandemic will clear up enough by then that starting the production around then will be relatively simple. As of now, after being delayed by the pandemic, ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ is set to release in February of 2022.
By George Robbins
Theaters have had a rough go of things over the course of the past few months due to the pandemic which began back in the middle of March. Movie theaters, like all other businesses in the entertainment industry have suffered from not being able to draw in crowds or allow gatherings due to the pandemic. Without people strolling through their doors, theaters have had absolutely no income and many people who worked for them have been out of work. In the time since that announcement was made that this was actually a pandemic, theaters have been consistently trying to reopen their doors to the public. In some places, they have actually managed to do so, but theater chains have yet to make any attempts to do so.
Though I say they haven’t made an attempt to reopen their doors to the public, this actually isn’t entirely true. Theater chains have been trying consistently, to come up with a date that they will actually be able to open their doors up again. The thing that differentiates them from privately owned theaters is the fact that chain must at least somewhat work in unison. In order to bring in a proper amount of income, theaters must be open in multiple locations as well as be able to sell out seats. Both the former and the latter have been difficult for companies to do because of the state of the nation right now.
When a second round of the coronavirus hit in the United States, many movies studios decided to push back the release dates of their movies to either late this year or some time next year. This has resulted in many movie theaters deciding to keep their doors closed until such a time that they can show new films to audiences. Although theaters that have been open have been showing films, they are all older films and don’t draw in large enough crowds. Other than theaters waiting for new releases, there is also the issue that many states are in a state of lockdown where theaters aren’t even allowed to be opened until there is a better handle on the virus. Theater chains were going to reopen at the end of July, but it seems that this is not something bound to happen.
Recently, the theater industry took even more of a blow when Warner Bros. announced that they would not be releasing ‘Tenet’ in August. Not only did they announce that they would not be releasing the film in mid-August like originally planned, but also that the release date is now undetermined. Essentially this means that the movie’s release date has been delayed indefinitely until WB decides it is a safe climate for them to be able to release the film. This movie was one that theaters have been following with their opening dates due to it being an upcoming Christopher Nolan blockbuster. Despite the film no longer being on the docket for release, AMC theaters seems to be going for the risky play by reopening their doors to the public by mid-to-late August. We will get to see soon whether this will work in their favor or be a hindrance to them.
By George Robbins
Marvel Studios is now world renowned for the countless hero films that they have put out over the past decade plus. The Marvel Cinematic Universe, now known simply as the MCU, is one of the biggest and most popular franchises to ever exist. They have pumped out at least a movie or two a year ever since the release of ‘Iron Man’ back in 2008. That film’s release was one that was plagued with almost no backing and a filming schedule that would ruin an ordinary production. With that in mind, it would be the film that started it all and would go on to make a huge change in the movie industry. Without the MCU, the industry would probably be very different than it is now.
With the MCU, eventually there came Marvel Studios which was entirely devoted to the production of new films and television shows that focus on the established universe. If not for the efforts of the writers, the universe could have ended up differently from the end product that we got after all. There is much to look at when it comes to examining the MCU and the efforts put into the inter-connectivity of it all. This connectivity is what made the MCU stand out beyond just the films being good on their own. Thus we ended up with a finished product that took over 10 years which is now called the Infinity Saga which follows an over-arching storyline in all of the films.
Now that the initial saga is complete, many are looking forward to the future of the MCU because literally anything can happen from this point onwards. The first three phases of the MCU are finished and unfortunately, phase 4 will not get to start until the release of ‘Black Widow.’ Due to everything going on with the pandemic, there is no telling exactly when that release will be but as of now the release date is set for November. The range of upcoming movies for this phases includes new characters we have never seen before and the end of the phase will end with a ‘Doctor Strange’ sequel. With all of this still on the table, there is still talk of what will be done in the future.
What is now being discussed is the apparent development of a serialization from the comics known as ‘Illuminati.’ The point of that comic series is to feature a number of different characters who discuss issues going on in the world in secret. The group is not really an official team, but they discuss how to deal with crises’ that are currently going on in the world. With the development of this under way, no one is quite sure how it will turn out or what form of media we will be able to see it on if it does come out. As of now, it is unknown if it will be a TV series or if it will be a movie in the future but we can hope that we will see more on it in the near future.
By George Robbins
Edgar Wright is a director who is known for having a pretty unique style of directing in which every detail in his films has some kind of meaning. Even though he is now relatively well known, he was actually known by few not too long ago. Many of his films went unnoticed for a lengthy period of time which has ended with many of his films turning into cult films. This hasn’t been all that terrible, but it has meant that he could have been working on many other films over the years instead of waiting for an opportunity here and there. As such, it is nice to hear that he will be working on an entirely new film some time in the near future.
With the coronavirus currently plaguing the world, it is difficult to get any work properly done when it comes to the movie industry. As a result of this, it is nice to hear about any new projects that are being worked on within the industry. However, even as new projects do end up being announced, there is the issue moving forward in regards to testing for the virus. Even if things are cleared up enough by the time movies start production it will still be hard to get into a rhythm going forward. This has brought about a series of concerns as of late and moving forward, it could affect the industry even more than it already is.
Edgar Wright being put on a new film project is both interesting and concerning to some degree. Even if he begins working on the project in earnest some time next year, it may be difficult for him to get things on track. Wright signed on not only to direct the film but also to develop and executively produce the film which is a whirlwind of effort for a project that has only just been announced. The film in question is named ‘Stage 13’ and it centers around a ghost haunting a soundstage. There will certainly be a lot to look forward to with this title, but as of now there really aren’t that many details that can tell us much about it.
All we can assume is that with Wright standing in the middle of essentially the entire creation of the film, it will turn out to be a great film. Wright is known for taking films with a relatively simple premise and turning them into something that is just straight-up enjoyable to watch. He makes sure that every detail, even background details, are properly in place while scenes for a film are being shot. Whatever project he works on has more around it than just what can be seen on the surface and this makes it even more entertaining to watch his films. The game going into the films is what can be spotted or heard and how will it factor into the movie as a whole. So with this film, let’s see just what it is we can glean from the movie when it eventually releases.
Get Some Strange!
