by Emily Nagle
Friday marked the second anniversary of Disney+, and the company hosted their annual Disney+ Day, where they announced future shows, movies, and other content for the streamer that has reached 116 million subscribers in 2 years.
The content slate includes new arrivals from Disney’s various IP, including National Geographic, Marvel, and Pixar. Most notably, Marvel announced 12 upcoming titles for series and films, including a series of shorts about Baby Groot (“I Am Groot”), a second season of “What If…?”, and a “WandaVision” spin-off series following nosy neighbor Agatha Harkness (“Agatha: House of Harkness”). Also revealed were title logos for previously announced Marvel projects, including Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, and Echo.
From Pixar comes the announcement. Released exclusively on Disney+ is a Pixar Disney+ Day Special, where Pixar’s chief creative officer Pete Docter introduces some of the studio’s current projects, which include a “Cars” series, the studio’s first long-form animated series titled “Win or Lose”, and documentaries about the production of upcoming films “Turning Red” and “Lightyear”. Also released is “Ciao Alberto”, a short film taking place after the events of “Luca” following Luca’s friend Alberto’s life in Portorosso, as well as the trailer for “Baymax!”, a “Big Hero 6” series announced last December.
Star Wars fans get to look forward to a 2022 series following Obi-Wan Kenobi featuring Ewan McGregor, and a documentary following the dangerous bounty hunter Boba Fett titled Under the Helmet: The Legacy of Boba Fett, set to arrive on the platform December 29.
Other announcements from the expansive content slate include the first Ice Age film since Disney’s acquisition of the now-defunct Blue Sky Studios – titled “The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild” – in addition to a third season of “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series”, and a second animated “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” film ahead of the first one (which is set to release on the platform December 3).
To celebrate their two-year anniversary, Disney+ is having a special offer where new and existing subscribers can get one month of the service for $1.99 compared to their usual $7.99/month. The offer ends on November 14.
by Emily Nagle
Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for November 5-7, 2021
5. Ron’s Gone Wrong
4. Venom: Let There Be Carnage
3. No Time to Die
2. Dune
1. Eternals
Released on Friday, Marvel’s “Eternals” was the highest grossing film in the U.S. for the weekend, raking in $71.2 million. Its story follows an immortal alien race that has been hiding on Earth for thousands of years, but finally emerges to protect the planet from humanity’s worst enemy, the Deviants. The movie boasts an ensemble cast that includes Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, and Angelina Jolie. “Eternals” has received mixed reviews from critics, who have commented on the film’s pacing and two-dimensional characters. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture wrote about the lack of character development, describing that “the script doesn’t treat the actors as individuals, but rather as vehicles for bland jokes and exposition.” However, the film has received positive feedback regarding its visual effects.
“Dune” has been in theaters for three weeks, and it’s still raking in millions. The second highest-grossing film for this past weekend, it made $7.8 million in the box office, and made a total of $84.1 million. “Dune” takes place thousands of years in the future, and tells the story of young Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet), who is part of a noble family. When war strikes, he must travel to the dangerous planet of Arrakis to defend his future. The film has received positive reviews, with critics praising its visuals and execution. Already it’s been confirmed for a sequel that will begin production next summer, and roll out to theaters in 2023.
by Emily Nagle
More than a week after the tragic shooting on the set of “Rust” that killed one person and injured another, Alec Baldwin has spoken out. While he is prohibited from discussing the shooting itself due to ongoing police investigation, a video released by TMZ on Saturday depicted Baldwin explaining his close relationship with 42-year-old cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed in the October 21 incident, as well as his interest in limiting firearms on film sets.
“I’m not allowed to make any comments, because it’s an ongoing investigation. I’ve been ordered by the sheriff’s department in Santa Fe. It’s an active investigation of someone dying…she was my friend,” Alec Baldwin explained to a swarm of reporters in the video.
On October 21, while on set in New Mexico for “Rust”, Alec Baldwin fatally shot a prop gun while practicing a gun-drawing technique for one of his scenes. Although the crew had been told that there was no ammunition inside of the gun, it turned out that the revolver was loaded with a projectile and gunpowder. As a result, when Baldwin fired the gun, a bullet shot through the chest of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins before landing in the shoulder of 48-year-old director Joel Souza. While Souza is recovering from his injuries, Hutchins died after being airlifted to a hospital.
Baldwin’s wife Hilaria was also in the video shot in Manchester, VT, where TMZ says Baldwin and his family have been “laying low since the incident,” and got annoyed with reporters when they didn’t remember Hutchins’ name, telling them, “Her name is Halyna. If you’re spending this much time waiting for us you should know her name.”
While paparazzi mostly wanted to know the details of the fatal incident, a tense Baldwin shut them down multiple times throughout the 3-minute video. He described the experience of meeting with Hutchins’ family after her death, including that her husband and 9-year-old son are “overwhelmed with grief…in shock”. He even shared that he believes production for “Rust” will not continue. After answering questions for a few minutes, Baldwin walked away from paparazzi, explaining that his children were in the car crying, as him getting questioned by police has become a regular occurrence since the incident.
by Emily Nagle
After a press conference this morning, Disney announced that they are pushing back the release dates for the 5 Marvel movies that were scheduled to premiere next year.
During the conference, the corporation switched around some of the release dates for their films, sharing an updated premiere calendar on Marvel’s official website. Some of the updated theatrical release dates include May 6, 2022 for “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (delayed from March 2022); July 8, 2022 for “Thor: Love and Thunder” (shifted from May 2022); and November 11, 2022 for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (which was originally scheduled to release in summer 2022).
Also postponed is the fifth film in the “Indiana Jones” franchise, which will now premiere in summer 2023 instead of next summer. While it’s not clear why Disney has made the decision to delay the Marvel films, the reason for this film’s delay is due to star Harrison Ford injuring his shoulder on set back in June, allowing time for the actor to heal.
Disney’s upcoming films will receive a premiere format that more closely resembles their pre-pandemic releases, as they will receive an exclusive theatrical run for 45 days before they become available digitally. The company’s most recent theatrical releases have made record-breaking box office numbers, signifying numbers closer to what they were before the pandemic. Marvel’s latest release, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” quickly became the highest-grossing film of 2021, while “Black Widow” made the second highest. Disney most likely anticipates that the future Marvel films will excel in the box office in a similar manner.
by Emily Nagle
Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for Weekend of October 8-11
1. No Time to Die
2. Venom: Let There Be Carnage
3. The Addams Family 2
4. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
5. The Many Saints of Newark
In only its first weekend in theaters, the James Bond film “No Time to Die” climbed to the number-one spot for this weekend’s box office rankings. The 25th installment in the nearly 50-year-old spy franchise stars Daniel Craig as a retired Bond, who suddenly finds himself having to return to service when a friend from the CIA (played by Jeffrey Wright) needs help rescuing a scientist (played by David Dencik) from the mysterious Safin (played by Rami Malek). It’s only been out for 4 days, but has been met with mostly positive reviews, and is already the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2021. “No Time to Die” has raked in $314.3 million worldwide, and $55.2 million in the United States.
Currently in its second week of release, the sequel to 2018’s “Venom”, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage”, grossed $31.7 million across the United States over the long weekend. This superhero film follows journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) as he adjusts to life as the host of the alien symbiote Venom. When a serial killer (played by Woody Harrelson) escapes from prison after becoming the host of Venom’s spawn Carnage, it’s up to Brock and Venom to put an end to Carnage’s reign of terror.
In addition to “No Time to Die”, the Indigenous Peoples’ Day weekend saw the release of two other new films. Also rolling out to theaters this weekend were mystery horror “Lamb” and the Fran Kranz-directed drama “Mass”.
by Emily Nagle
On Sunday afternoon, Timothée Chalamet posted a sneak preview on Instagram at his starring role in the upcoming Willy Wonka prequel, “Wonka”. Scheduled to release in spring 2023 and co-written by Paul King of the “Paddington” film series, the story will precede the events of Charlie Bucket finding the golden ticket in Roald Dahl’s best-selling children’s novel. Instead, it will follow “a young Willy Wonka and his adventures before opening the world’s most famous chocolate factory.”
Celebrities and fans alike reacted to the photos on Instagram and Twitter, which were accompanied by the caption, “The suspense is terrible, I hope it will last … 🏭WONKA🍫”. Kiernan Shipka of “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” commented, “OH MY GOD”, and a fan wrote, “I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO EXCITED FOR ANYTHING”.
Chalamet will be the third actor to play the chocolatier, with earlier roles being played by Gene Wilder in 1971’s “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” followed by Johnny Depp in the 2005 reboot “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory“. Like the previous films, “Wonka” will be a musical, with Neil Hannon of the Irish pop band The Divine Comedy on board to write original songs for the film.
Other actors confirmed for the upcoming film include Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman and Jim Carter – their roles have not yet been announced.
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