By George Robbins
Not too long ago we heard news that was kind of unexpected in that we would be graced with a new ‘TRON’ movie. Some time in the near future production will begin for a new movie for the ‘TRON’ franchise and it will hopefully be what fans are hoping for. The ‘TRON’ movies are known for their futuristic art style and the fact that they have the unique story of taking place inside of technology. The original film released back in the early 1980’s and its follow-up sequel ‘TRON: Legacy‘ released in 2010. By the time the second film released, there was already a relatively active fandom for the original movie. Thus, the sequel wasn’t a failure in theaters, but it was met with mixed criticism.
Overall, the ‘TRON’ movies didn’t do bad all things considered and it was wondered whether there would be another entry into the film’s universe. For the following five years after the sequel’s release, fans wondered as to whether a third entry would actually come into existence or not. Following the bomb that was ‘Tomorrowland,’ Disney said that they would not be working on any more live-action science fiction movies which included ‘TRON.’ This meant that there would not be a third installment for the franchise like people had hoped and for years, this is how things stayed. Recently, however, the project has picked up steam again as Jared Leto was officially cast as a main role for a third installment.
Being known for choosing his movie roles carefully, this resulted in renewed interest from the general public and the film has started gaining more traction within the past month or so. Not much is known about the upcoming new installment, but we are slowly starting to get more and more details in regards to the film. The project now has a director attached to it with director Garth Davis taking the reins to make sure that the movie gets made. Even though more and more work is being done for the film, it has still not received the green light to go headlong into development. Whatever happens during the development process over the next few months will be determined by Disney based upon how much they can expect to make off of the film.
By George Robbins
Approximately one month ago, Disney World reopened its doors to the public and people were allowed to re-enter the parks. Though people were able to re-enter the parks, there were rules that had been put in place in order to accommodate for the pandemic. Among those rules was a restriction placed on the number of people who would be allowed to enter the parks at any given time. Although this rule- along with a few others- was put in place, employees of the parks have still been worried about working under conditions where it could be very likely that they could contract the virus. This worry has resulted in Disney cracking down even more on people who haven’t been listening to the rules.
One of the first things to be announced after the reopening of Disney World was the simple rule that people who don’t wear their masks on rides wouldn’t be allowed to purchase their souvenir photos. Small things like this wouldn’t appear to be effective, but for those going to the parks, this has some weight to it. Those who are going to the parks are going for a reason and they don’t want their experience to be ruined just because they couldn’t listen to a simple rule. Although, this did result in some interesting, but mildly infuriating loopholes to come to fruition. These loopholes would then be exploited by park guests in order to allow themselves movement around the park without their faces being covered. Needless to say, Disney very quickly too action.
Disney Parks put a new rule in place not too long after reopening to the public which stated that people were not allowed to move while eating or drinking. The loophole that was being exploited was one where people were freely moving around without their masks covering their face. Clearly, when guests are eating or drinking, they have to take their masks off, but some guests took it too far when they used it to their advantage. Disney quickly caught on to this and changed their policies so that people would not be allowed to move around while they were eating or drinking. This was a ban that was put in place across all of their parks and has been strictly upheld like their other rules that are in place to prevent the further spread of disease.
Recently, Disney announced just how much of a hit they had taken with the parks being shut down for a total of $3.5 Billion just from the parks. The surge of virus cases in Florida have caused a lot of different cancellations to their parks and the limitations on things like park hoppers removed a lot of incentive for guests to go to the parks. In an effort to cut down on costs, starting September 8th, Disney World parks will be closing 1-2 hours earlier each day and this will carry through October. They have been receiving nothing but flak since reopening because people have felt that they reopened too early. To them, this is an effort to save costs and maybe even save some face with the public by also claiming it is for the health of their guests.
By George Robbins
Not too long ago, the decision for studios to forego theatrical releases started becoming more prevalent as the pandemic remains an issue for the world. Either this, or they’ve chosen to continue delaying their films until they know the climate for releases is better than it currently is. Most studios have actually opted for the latter choice of simply waiting things out since they had far reaching release dates already. The ones that have really seen the biggest affect are the studios that have continually pushed movies that they have been marketing for awhile now and have had to keep their dates moving back. One of the most famous ones as of late has been ‘Tenet’ which has actually not had to forego its release but instead it will release overseas first.
The movie ‘Tenet‘ releasing overseas first is something we thought we would never see, but because of the pandemic it isn’t all that surprising. Domestically, the movie has been put on an indefinite hold where we aren’t quite sure when it will show in theaters because the pandemic is not being handled well enough that they feel comfortable releasing the film. So now the unprecedented release of the film abroad before a domestic release is happening. On the not as dramatic side of things, Disney will be putting their newest live-action re-work of a classic, ‘Mulan,’ straight on Disney+, their premium streaming service. To make up for it not showing in theaters, they will charge a fee for people to own it digitally through the service.
Although they plan on launching the film straight to digital domestically, they are still going to have a theatrical release in China, according to a new poster. This makes sense given the fact that China will also be getting ‘Tenet’ because they have a better handle on the situation with the virus. As such, Disney will be able to make some of that theatrical release money that they were hoping to get here in The States. It just goes to show that we are far off from being able to have the freedom we really want and studios are adapting to this the best way they can right now. Maybe if things go well in the coming months, they will be able to premiere films here theatrically without much worry.
By George Robbins
There are a lot of different films that have unfortunately been forced to have their release dates pushed back due to issues caused by the pandemic. Many films now have theatrical releases either for later this year, or some time next year. These films have had no choice but to do this and now there are films that are going to be releasing straight to digital because there is no merit to waiting for a theatrical release window. This is how Universal have been releasing a majority of their films these past few months. They have only pushed the release dates for a few different films thus far and it doesn’t seem like they are going to stop with these release plans any time soon.
A number of different films have even pushed back their release dates multiple times to the point where new plans have had to be drawn up. Christopher Nolan’s newest movie ‘Tenet’ currently doesn’t have a release date for a domestic theatrical release and it will instead show in about 70 other countries that have a better handle on the virus. Another film that was forced to be pushed back was Disney’s new live-action adaptation of ‘Mulan’ which has now been delayed since March and was supposed to release near the end of August. Disney have recently decided that the best course of action moving forward is for them to just release this new movie straight to Disney+ because there is no reason at this point to delay the film anymore. They will charge a fee for people to buy the movie from the streaming service in order to make up for the money they will lose because there is no theatrical release.
Now it seems that there is a bit of good news in regards to the movie ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music‘ as it will be releasing sooner than anticipated. The ‘Bill & Ted’ movies have gained something of a cult following since their original release and their is a dedicated fanbase that have been looking forward to the release of this movie. It was meant to be just like any other film where it would have a theatrical release and then some time later it would release on digital. Due to the pandemic, they will be releasing the film in both select theaters and straight to digital so that those people that can’t go out to see it will be given the opportunity to do so. The movie was originally supposed to premiere on August 21st which was then pushed to September 1st, and now it seems people will get the chance to see the movie a bit sooner when it releases on August 28th.
By George Robbins
The Marvel Cinematic Universe, or MCU, is a franchise that is known all over the world and it has easily become one of the biggest film franchises ever. The wild success of the MCU films is something that many other studios are trying to emulate by creating their own shared universes. These shared universes either succeed or fail pretty badly before they can even get their feet under them and this has resulted in few cinematic universes existing outside of the MCU. It will also be difficult for any universes in the future to even start up now as those that try to start are often met with skepticism because people think they are just copying the MCU. That being said, the opportunity is still there and studios still have a chance to make something great.
Not every single film in the MCU has been great, but due to character revamps, every character in the MCU has been treated pretty well. Even the worst of the MCU films were completely terrible, though they have been met with plenty of criticism. These are made up for by people making new films that well overdo what the previous film did. Examples for these include ‘Iron Man 3’ and ‘Thor: The Dark World’ which were not really liked much by fans, especially the latter. They would then go on to be out shined by their follow-ups, namely ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, and Thor: Ragnarok.’ These are just some of the incredible films to come out afterwards and they are very much loved.
Other than the older heroes getting the sequels they deserved, new characters ended up with the movies they deserved. Within the past few years leading up to the end of the Infinity Saga, we were given introduction movies for ‘Doctor Strange,’ a new story for Spider-Man in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming,’ and a pretty good introduction movie for ‘Captain Marvel.’ For the last of those films, we ended up with a movie that did a pretty good job of showing us that even characters that seem overpowered by some standards can be given pretty good movies. The movie was pretty much considered to be a success after its release and even though it came out between the last two Avengers movies in the saga, it did move the story along. Thus, it is now a certainty that we will get to see yet another Captain Marvel film.
Recently, it was announced that director Nia DaCosta will be taking the helm to be the director for the upcoming sequel in the MCU. For those unaware, DaCosta was also the director for the movie ‘Candyman‘ which is a spiritual successor to the original movie of the same name. The movie has had to be moved and instead of releasing over the summer, it will release in October of this year if all goes as planned. ‘Captain Marvel’ directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden have already voiced their support that they believe DaCosta will make a great director for the upcoming sequel. Hopefully, we will soon get to see progress on the continuation of the story of Carol Danvers’ story some time in the not too distant future.
By George Robbins
Disney has taken a lot of different stories over the years, including some pretty dark toned ones, and turned them into beloved children’s films that still hold up today. Often times, those films are adapted from stories that are not really made for children, but the Disney adaptations did a good job to make them watchable. They are films that have taught children of multiple generations at this point how they can be better people and what not to do in their lives. While these lessons often go over the heads of many, they are still there and Disney films, especially the animated ones, hold a large amount of nostalgia for most adults alive today. No matter what movie it just so happens to be, someone will have liked it for some reason or another.
One of those movies that kept its darker tones was the movie ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame‘ which is based on the novel of the same name. It is one of their films that isn’t necessarily recognized by many as one of their films at first due to the dark themes found all throughout the film. The movie is a shock to all those who see it because it is not what one would expect from an animated Disney film. Despite the shocking themes and content that are found scattered throughout the film, the film still maintained a G rating by the MPAA. No one really expected what they got when they first went to go see the movie.
For those unaware, the movie tells the story of the titular ‘Hunchback of Notre Dame,’ a man named Quasimodo by his master Judge Claude Frollo. Frollo was responsible for the death of his mother who was a Romani gypsy who was trying to save her son’s life and, as penance, cares for him as if he was his own. Quasimodo falls in love with a gypsy named Esmeralda who later falls for the captain of the city guard. In the meantime, Frollo tries going after her himself as he is lusting for her which is definitely not what people would have expected from a Disney film. Everything comes to a head when Quasimodo triumphantly stops Frollo once and for all and he is then accepted by everyone despite his deformities.
The voice-acting work seen throughout the film is stupendous and cemented the characters as they are. Now, like many other classic Disney animated films, there are talks of a live-action version of the film coming to fruition in the future. Josh Gad has signed on to be the producer of the new film and he may even star in the film as well. While the original film may have had mixed success upon its initial release, it has since been well remembered by fans of both Disney and the movie itself. The performances are something that cannot really be forgotten by those who watched the movie and we can’t really see anyone else playing those characters.
That being said, there is a chance that we could have ended up with an entirely different voice actor who could have played the titular character. Quasimodo was voiced by Tom Hulce who portrayed the character as he was meant to be as a young man who just wants to be accepted by the public. However, it seems that actor Mandy Patinkin, who is most well known for his work in theater and his portrayal of character Inigo Montoya in ‘The Princess Bride,’ almost played the character. Directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise recently revealed that he would have been Quasimodo if not for a disastrous audition to play the character. According to them, he brought his own piano accompanist to the audition because he had rearranged the song that composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz had written and eventually walked out of the verbal audition.
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