By George Robbins
The MCU is a massive franchise with many movies that are currently sat underneath its belt and most of those films have been well received. They just finished Phase Three of their release schedule which finished off a ten year overarching story line which culminated with a final intense battle and the end of two heroes’ story lines. The next phase, Phase Four, of the MCU release schedule was meant to start this month with the ‘Black Widow’ movie. These plans changed when the coronavirus pandemic was announced back in the middle of March and the movie’s release date was changed to November of this year instead. This was not the film that was originally meant to release this time however.
The original plan going into Phase Four of the MCU was to apparently release Volume 3 of the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ series first. When the first movie in the series was announced, no one knew what to expect because they were characters that were not very well known to the public. Their first film released during Phase Two in an effort to introduce characters people didn’t really know much about to the grand scheme of things. Director James Gunn was the one responsible for delivering a story and characters that people almost instantaneously fell in love with. However, due to a controversy caused by old social media posts that Gunn had made awhile back, the production of the movie was put on hold.
People on the internet found outrage when they found old social media posts that didn’t really hold up to today’s social climate and pushed for Gunn to be let go as a director. While initially he was fired, there was enough of an outcry from both fans and the cast of the ‘Guardians’ films to get them to hire him back on as a director. All of this ended up setting back the production of the movie and they were not able to start working on the film in the time frame that they initially wanted to. As such, it has been revealed by Gunn that if they were able to work on the film when they originally wanted to, then the movie would have, in theory, hit theaters this month. While we now know that it would have been pushed back regardless, we still would have gotten the film faster than we are going to get it.
By George Robbins
This pandemic has caused a great deal of issues for just about everyone on Earth, but there are some who it has affected even more than others. Only some businesses were allowed to remain open when this all began, and since then some businesses have been allowed to reopen with similar restrictions to the other ones that have been opened the whole time. One of the biggest industries to be affected by all of this is the entertainment industry and to be more specific it is the movie industry. Movie theaters have had their doors shut since the beginning of the pandemic in mid-March and will be keeping doors shut until around July. This has resulted in a lot of projects being delayed while productions in the midst of filming have had to be delayed due to the virus.
While it may seem as though the movie industry is at a sort of standstill, this is not really the case. There are plenty of creatives such as writers, directors, and producers who are doing their best to keep the industry moving despite everything else being shut down. It can be said that they are just trying to keep themselves busy or they are just looking for work, but they really are keeping the movie industry alive right now. There are plenty of new productions that have been announced during quarantine thus far and they are all projects that people are now looking forward to. Among the projects announced was one thought up by Tom Cruise and Elon Musk with the help of NASA.
Cruise and Musk came up with an idea to film a movie entirely in outer space and made it their mission to try and make that film a reality. If they manage to succeed in such an endeavor, then that film would be the first feature length film to ever be shot entirely in space. This feat is one that they would never be able to complete on their own even with Musk’s SpaceX program to back them up. So they went to NASA in order to find out if such a feat would even be possible for them to accomplish at this point in time. After a discussion to see whether it would be possible, NASA announced that the momentous achievement would, in fact, be possible through the use of the ISS, or International Space Station.
The ISS is a massive satellite station which orbits the Earth and it contains compartments holding crew members from multiple nations all over the world. The purpose of the ISS is to conduct experiments in space in order to discover new things about the universe we live in and to find all kinds of new possibilities for us to explore as a species. So it would only make sense that NASA would want to help in making a movie that would show just what can be done in space. The premise of the film is not really known at the moment since it has only just been announced not to long ago that the movie was in development. What is known about the film is that it is a narrative action film which isn’t much of a surprise given Cruise’s track record and that Musk’s SpaceX will be primarily producing the movie.
On top of knowing the genre of the movie and the people who will be producing it, we now have a director to attach to the film. The director for the movie will be the same director who has worked with Cruise on other projects before, Doug Liman. Liman is known for directing action movies such as ‘The Bourne Identity’ and ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ and has worked on movies with Cruise such as ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ and ‘American Made.’ With these films in mind it is no surprise that he would end up being picked to help work on this new film as a director. There is no information right now regarding cast or any kind of plot points for the film, but I am certain we will hear something soon given the attention this film will be getting.
By George Robbins
There are plenty of movies that will take awhile to release now that the world is on lockdown and it means we will not have a lot of new films for the remainder of the year. This does not change the fact that eventually, we will be able to go see some incredible films that people have been working on for awhile now. Movie theaters plan on re-opening during the summer which gives some movies a chance to release and possibly make money, but safety lies on the side of movies releasing later in the year or some time next year. There are a lot of films that have had to be delayed for up to six months already thanks to the pandemic, but some have even been pushed back a year at this point. Among the movies that were pushed back from later this year is one from Edgar Wright.
For those unaware, Edgar Wright is a director who is known for the strenuous details that he puts into the movies that he makes. He usually includes things in his movies in both the background and foreground that give better context to the world of the film. This allows for foreshadowing that only the keenest of eyes can pick up on and most times people need to see his films multiple times to catch everything on screen. Wright puts a lot of work into making sure that his films are entertaining and they are treats for people to go out and watch. Without a doubt, whatever the next film is that he is working on is one for people to go see.
For those who think that his name sounds at least a little familiar, it is because he is the one who directed the Cornetto Trilogy. These three films are ‘Shaun of the Dead,’ ‘Hot Fuzz,’ and ‘The World’s End.’ Not only did he create these films but also ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ and most recently ‘Baby Driver.’ The latest of his films did better at the box office than any of his other films and was considered a box office hit, but that does not change the fact that the rest of his movies have very big and dedicated fan bases. His films are all well-received critically and now that he has the attention he needs to put out big films and have the public notice them, he started work on a psychological horror.
The new horror film that he has been working on is one called ‘Last Night in Soho’ which was initially intended to release theatrically on September 25th, 2020. The plot of the film centers around a woman in London who discovers that she is able to travel backwards in time to the 1960’s where she is able to meet her idol face-to-face. While it may, at first, seem like there is no point in pushing back the film since other movies plan on screening over the summer, it really does end up being the best idea. The fact remains that while theaters will open up around July, the number of people who will be able to be in them at any given time will be severely reduced. On top of that, public faith in something like a theater will be low due to people not wanting to get sick. So the new theatrical release date for the film has been pushed back to April 2021.
By George Robbins
The Jason Bourne franchise is one that is beloved by action movie enthusiasts the world over due to it being its own take on the spy genre. What makes it unique are the storylines because it is very similar to other movies such as ‘Mission: Impossible.’ That franchise is now in the midst of making its seventh and eighth movies back-to-back and will always be a movie that people look forward to seeing. The same can be said about the Bourne franchise as well since it shows us a different type of spy than the ones we see in ‘Mission: Impossible’ or ‘James Bond.’ We get to see a man turned into the greatest spy and betrayed, giving us a story that is familiar, yet wholly unique.
The Bourne franchise follows the titular Jason Bourne, a man trained to be the best possible secret agent by a shadowy organization. Unlike other spy films, this franchise always features the same organization that trained him as the villains, as opposed to new shadow organizations each film. This ends up being a strong suit for the film and makes it a more action based experience for the audience to follow along with. After all, it is nice to know exactly who the villains are while wanting to see what plans they have in store this time. The only thing is that no one was sure if there would be a sixth film to put onto the franchise list, but it seems there may end up being one after all.
The initial trilogy of films was very well-received, but the following fourth installment to the franchise, which featured Jeremy Renner, started turning it downhill. This did not sway people from going to see the fifth installment of the franchise upon its release in 2016, 10 years after the original trilogy ended. Although it was a success at the box office, critically the fifth film did the worst among fans. Due to how the newest entry was viewed upon its release Matt Damon, understandably, hasn’t felt it would be a good idea to return to the big screen for a sixth installment. Producer Frank Marshall still sees an opportunity for there to be a sixth entry to the franchise.
Marshall is under the impression that if the franchise is to move forward, then there may need to be a new director for the film. However, the previous director, Paul Greengrass, has done 3 of the 5 films and it is unlikely that Damon will return to the starring role without him. Marshall is hopeful that he will be able to get his cast together in the end and that he hopes Damon’s Bourne and Renner’s Aaron Cross could even be on the screen together. Until more definitive information is able to be provided, these are just rumors and speculations, but it would be interesting if they did decide to make a return to the franchise in some way.
By George Robbins
Before all of this pandemic business began, there was a lot of news about new movies that were in development and among them was a new Blumhouse production. That production is a new reboot film for the character Spawn and was just starting to get underway when the pandemic was announced. This gets people to ask the question as to whether the movie will actually continue to be made even with all of this going on. According to Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum it will actually continue to be made and it is actually progressing quite smoothly at this point.
The upcoming reboot for the character was announced back in 2017 and it was announced that it would be an entirely unique film for the character. The character of Spawn is ripped directly from the comic book character of the same name created by Todd McFarlane in 1992. A movie for the superhero starring Michael Jai White as the titular character was released theatrically in 1997. While the movie did well at the box office and was praised for it having an African-American man play the sole hero in the film, it wasn’t that great critically. ‘Spawn’ was criticized by people extensively, but became a cult classic hero film for the same flaws.
Jason Blum, and his production company Blumhouse, have been working on getting the new ‘Spawn’ movie made so that they can release it to the public. However, there hasn’t been a ton of movement on the film ever since its announcement back in 2017. That doesn’t mean that the film isn’t being made, and in fact it is quite the opposite. The movie is being made which two stipulations, which are the fact the movie must be R-rated and McFarlane himself must be in the director’s chair. In a recent interview, Blum said that there is a monumental amount of activity surrounding the movie, so that can only mean it is still moving on.
Someone important to the filming of the movie had to step away from the project recently, but Blum’s quote suggests that the movie is very much still in development. This movie is one that a lot of different people want to see get made and given the current climate for superhero films, this is the perfect time to do so. While the pandemic might still be in effect, that doesn’t change the fact that it is still plenty possible for work to get done in the industry. Now is the time for the studio to line up exactly who and what they need to get the project underway so that when the time comes they will be able to make the film. So not only is the film still being made, but it is gaining more traction since they really don’t have anything else to do right now but work on the film.
By George Robbins
Nowadays we are starting to find out all different kinds of news regarding the movie industry and what is happening with movies that have been out for awhile. At the very least we have been finding out more regarding the films in the DCEU. As we have been learning just over these past few days is that rumors about studio executives getting too involved in the movies they are producing are turning out to be true. The public is learning about this after the now infamous Snyder cut of the ‘Justice League’ film was announced to be releasing on HBO Max some time next year. If it wasn’t for petitioning from DC fans then we never would have gotten this version of the film.
There haven’t exactly been a lot of films to be a part of the DCEU collection and there are not many that are viewed favorably by fans and critics. After the premiere of ‘Justice League’ fans heard a rumor about a Snyder cut of the film made by ‘Man of Steel’ director Zach Snyder. This resulted in a multi-year petition from fans for Warner Bros. to release this cut to the public. The fact remains that there actually was no cut at the time the rumor began, but there will be one soon because Snyder has started working on one. This prompted another DCEU director to speak out about his film to try and get a director’s cut made.
That director would be David Ayer and the movie in question is ‘Suicide Squad’ which was initially received poorly by both critics and fans. It was just after it released that fans started saying that the reason the film wasn’t played out the way people expected it to was due to the impedance of studio executives. This seems to pretty close to the truth as we are now starting to discover after the announcement of the Snyder cut. When that cut of the film was announced, Ayer started saying that there is a director’s cut of ‘Suicide Squad’ he has been working on that is nearly complete and that if fans petition like they did for ‘Justice League,’ he will be able to finish and release it.
Ever since he announced this cut of the film, Ayer has been saying that the originally released version of the movie is not the one he wanted made. He has been posting on social media telling people what it is exactly that he wanted done with the film when he first worked on it. He has also been confirming the fact that studio executives are, in fact, the reason that his film wasn’t made properly. They wanted the film to be more lighthearted as compared to other superhero films that were out in the market, so they did re-shoots for most of the movie and the tone of the film was all over the place, which was one of the biggest criticisms. One thing that got to stay in the film was the dark backstory for character Diablo and Ayer said that it was the only thing he managed to keep in the final version. Most everything else was simply changed or cut from the film, so hopefully we will now be getting the best version of it.
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