Fast & Furious 9's international opening sends the franchise's lifetime gross past $6 billion worldwide. When The Fast and the Furious debuted twenty years ago, few could guess the heights the franchise would reach. What first began as an action flick about street racing has evolved into a global adventure that is, at its heart, about family above all else. Fast & Furious 9, officially titled F9, was originally scheduled for release last year, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, it shifted to this year. It has already begun to roll out internationally ahead of a U.S. debut next month. Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW Fast & Furious 9 will see the returns of the central team audiences know and love, led by Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto. This time around, Dom and his family's domestic bliss is shattered by the return of Jakob (John Cena), Dom's estranged brother. Jakob has teamed up with the previous installment's villain, Cipher (Charlize Theron), with an eye on taking Dom down once and for all. As if that wasn't exciting enough, Fast & Furious 9 also features the long-awaited return of Han (Sung Kang), previously thought to be dead several movies ago. RELATED: Han's New Car In Fast & Furious 9 Explained So far, Fast & Furious 9 is off to a rousing start at the box office. Per Variety, F9 scored an opening weekend of $162.4 million from eight markets, the best opening weekend for a Hollywood blockbuster since the pandemic began last year. It did especially well in China, earning $135 million to score the second biggest opening in the country for Fast & Furious following the last film. This hefty weekend total has moved the franchise past $6 billion in global grosses. For many, this will be welcome news. The worldwide box office has taken a hit over the past year because of the pandemic, forcing numerous theaters to close and studios to delay their biggest projects to this year and beyond. Godzilla vs. Kong was the first movie to really show signs of improvement for the industry back in March, but as the summer movie season finally approaches, things have gone quiet again. It remains to be seen how Fast & Furious 9 will debut domestically, where movie theater attendance still varies, but the international total is still a big win for Universal. Fast & Furious has cemented itself as a major box office force in recent years, and the delayed release for F9 has likely only increased anticipation. With several markets still to go, the total will only go up from here. Fast & Furious 9 still has a ways to go before it can be considered a true success, but the numbers are so far promising. This also bodes well for the franchise's next two installments, which will be its last (minus any spin-offs that might emerge). Diesel and other series stars truly committed to a theatrical release for Fast & Furious 9, and it looks like it's paying off.

Paddington gets edited into every movie imaginable with some hilarious images from a dedicated fan. The famed bear, who began his lengthy career as a character in a children’s book series from author Michael Bond in 1958, has proven in recent years that he still stands the test of time. With two highly successful films to his name in the past six years, fans of all ages are eager for the third film in the Paddington franchise to arrive, despite little being known about it. Surprisingly enough, although Paddington’s fanbase is extensive and he’s widely considered one of the most classic children’s characters ever created, it took a great deal of time for the first film in the series to arrive. After being announced in 2007, the project faced several challenges to its production, with Colin Firth originally signed on to voice Paddington. However, it was Firth who eventually realized that he wasn’t right for the role, and he voluntarily stepped aside after principal photography was completed in 2014. It didn’t take long for StudioCanal to find their next Paddington, however, as Ben Whishaw took the role on and has remained the voice of the friendly bear ever since. Most recently, Paddington 2 became Rotten Tomatoes' greatest film of all time, proving that the character shows no signs of slowing down, with audiences and critics finding much to love in the 2017 feature. Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW RELATED:Casting Paddington 3'S Main Villain As with most characters or films that are lucky enough to have a broad fanbase, Paddington is regularly celebrated in fan art. But Reddit user JaytheChou turned fan art into more than just a way to acknowledge Paddington’s effortless appeal. Using basic images of the beloved bear, a challenge was created to stick Paddington into a wide variety of films. At present, this effort has gone on for 75 days, under the title “I photoshop Paddington into another movie until I forget.” The results are pretty spectacular, with Paddington included in scenes from films like E.T., The Lord of the Rings, Eyes Wide Shut, and Casino Royale, to name just a few. A handful of the artist's creations can be seen below. It’s arguable that in recent weeks since Paddington 2 was revealed to be Rotten Tomatoes’ number one film, the franchise has gotten a huge boost in publicity. It’s been four years since the last entry in the series was released, and for some Paddington fans, Paddington 2 is the franchise’s superior film. In fact, one of the film’s stars, Hugh Grant, has actually stated that he believes the film is the best work of his career. Whether or not that’s the case is a different matter altogether, but Grant has starred in some great films over the years – though nothing near what Paddington has accomplished in JaytheChou’s ongoing Reddit project. Exactly why Paddington works so well in the photoshopped film scenes is likely due to the fact that it’s just so absurd. It’s hard to have anything negative to say about the naïve little bear from Darkest Peru, and that willingness on the part of the public to accept Paddington no matter what is a massive part of his charm. For now, JaytheChou’s photos are sure to keep fans entertained, but for anyone who’s seen and loved the first two Paddington films, a third installment can’t come soon enough.

Zack Snyder, director of the new Netflix film Army of the Dead, commented recently about possible clues in the film that could point to a time loop theory. The movie debuted May 21st on Netflix, and it has garnered a solid reception with a current 71% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Aside from directing the film, Snyder tackled cowriting it from his own story, being the director of photography, and working as a producer. The film stars Dave Bautista, Tig Notaro, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Garret Dillahunt, and Ana de la Reguera. The plot of the film revolves around a group of mercenaries trying to pull off a heist in the aftermath of a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas. Bautista's Scott Ward is tasked with putting a team together to crack a vault within the quarantined city, and they are working with a clock ticking down to a nuclear strike that will wipe the city off the map. When complications ensue, they find themselves in a fight for their lives against an army of the undead. However, some think there is more to the story. Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW RELATED: Army Of The Dead Ending, Final Scene & Franchise Future Explained In TheFilmJunkee's Vodka Stream, Snyder spoke about two moments in the film that point toward the characters possibly being stuck in a time loop and making it a bit farther each time. He mentions the scene around the casino table and then trails off a bit about another moment. However, he did preface it with a warning that it wasn't all true. Snyder said: "I will also say that, like... there's a chance - and I'm not saying this is 100% true, and in some ways it's not - but the group at the table, I mean, it's pretty subtle, but that's them also at the table as well as... they get farther every time. Like, is this the time they made it all the way to the money?" The other moment Snyder was likely eluding to before he trailed off was probably the exchange between Dieter and Vanderohe near the vault traps where they talked about the resemblance of the dead bodies to the group members. Vanderohe is merely trying to scare Dieter, but he's not wrong about the eerie similarities. The scene at the table refers to the team finding evidence of another group previously attempting the heist they're in the process of trying to pull off. They quickly brush this off as their employer trying the heist before and the team failing. Viewers may not have put too much thought into these scenes, but it sounds like there could be a deeper meaning to it all. If Snyder's statement turns out to be true, the characters really are talking about themselves in each moment. Why they would be stuck in the time loop or how they could break free is anyone's guess, as the film doesn't dig into this theory. While the world is familiar with time loop films such as Groundhog Day or Edge of Tomorrow, the concept would be an interesting way to set up a sequel. Snyder is no stranger to plotting ahead, as made clear with his work on the DCEU. It's possible that Snyder is trying to work that same magic with Army of the Dead, but it's unclear if Army of the Dead 2 will ever happen.

Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead introduces a whole new world of the undead, but also leaves plenty of unanswered questions for the upcoming prequel spinoffs and a potential sequel to answer. Army of the Dead stars Dave Bautista as Scott Ward, a former Las Vegas resident who earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom by helping to evacuate people from the city. Despite his heroism, he ends up estranged from his daughter and flipping burgers for a living, until a wealthy casino owner hires him to lead a team into the zombie-ridden city and retrieve $200 million from a vault. Scott recruits his old zombie-killing friends Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick) and Maria (Ana de la Reguera) for the heist, along with social media sensation Mikey Guzman (Raúl Castillo), safe-cracker Ludwig Dieter (Matthias Schweighöfer), and helicopter pilot Marianne Peters (Tig Notaro). Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW RELATED: Will Army Of The Dead 2 Happen? Everything We Know After local coyote Lilly (Nora Arnezeder) leads the team inside the city it's revealed that not all of the zombies are mindless, shuffling corpses ("shamblers"). The original zombie, Zeus, has built a society of "alpha" zombies that are stronger, faster, and more intelligent than the rest. The exact nature of these zombies, and how Zeus himself came to exist, is just one of the mysteries left over at the end of Army of the Dead. Here are the movie's biggest unanswered questions. How Was The First Zombie Created? The opening scene of Army of the Dead drops some big hints about the origin of the zombies. As the trucks leave Area 51 with their precious payload, two lights in the sky (pictured above) are seen suddenly flying away, implying that some extraterrestrial visitors have dropped by. Then, before their journey is interrupted by a sudden crash, the soldiers speculate that they could be transporting an alien, or something else of alien origin. Later in the movie some of the alpha zombies are revealed to have a strange blue aura around their internal organs, which again hints at some strange, outer-world science. Was the original zombie, Zeus, created in a government experiment utilizing alien technology? Or could the Area 51 connection turn out to be a total bait-and-switch? Do Zombies Really Come Back To Life When It Rains? Army of the Dead has a major Chekhov's Gun that's never actually paid off: Lilly's casual reveal that the sun-dried zombies littering the ground of Las Vegas briefly come back to life when it rains. Unfortunately the weather remains sunny throughout the heist, so it's unclear whether Lilly is telling the truth, or whether she's just making up stories to freak out newbies like Dieter. The ending of Army of the Dead sets up another zombie outbreak in Mexico City, so perhaps the vision of skeletons rising up from the ground to walk again is being saved for a Día de los Muertos-themed sequel. Are The Alpha Zombies Really Dead? What's shown of Zeus and the alpha zombies in Army of the Dead raises questions about whether they're actually walking corpses, like the shamblers, or whether they're something else entirely. Notably, Zeus has short hair when he first arrives in Las Vegas, but it has grown out into a flowing mane by the end of the movie. This could be chalked up to the popular myth about hair and fingernails continuing to grow after a person dies, but it's not so easy to explain the zombie fetus that Zeus pulls out of the alpha queen's body. If the alpha zombies are capable of having sex and reproducing, that means that more than just their bodies aren't just corpses being animated by a partially-resurrected brain - they're actually alive, albeit mutated. RELATED: Army Of The Dead: What Happened To Geeta Where Did The Robot Zombies Come From? Upon closer inspection, some of the zombies in Army of the Dead aren't zombies at all. After Guzman shoots one of them in the battle to leave the casino, it's revealed that the zombie is actually a robot, with a metal skull and an electronic eye underneath the skin of its face. And when Zeus is mourning the loss of his unborn zombie child at the Olympus, two of the zombies in the crowd have similar glowing blue eyes. Snyder acknowledged this in a Netflix Q&A about the movie, saying: "If you pay close attention, there's a number of zombies that are clearly not zombies. You see normal zombies and then you see some robot zombies. Are they monitors that the government has placed among the zombies to monitor them? Are they technology from the other world? What's happening there?" Snyder also suggested that the robot zombies will be explained in the upcoming prequel series Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas, which is set during the early days of the zombie outbreak. Were they sent by the government to try and infiltrate and sabotage the alpha zombies? Is the zombie outbreak some kind of experiment by aliens, who dropped the robot zombies in as a way of monitoring the results? Or are the alpha zombies revived using some kind of nanotechnology that gradually turns them into robots over time? There are any number of possible explanations. Is Dieter Still Alive? Things don't look good for Dieter when he's last seen in Army of the Dead, being dragged away by Zeus, but unlike the other characters he doesn't get a gory death scene. As Snyder himself has slyly pointed out, no one is really dead in a horror movie until you've seen the body. Dieter will be the focus of upcoming prequel movie Army of Thieves, and it seems likely that Army of the Dead deliberately left his fate open-ended so that he could return in a sequel as well. What Kind Of Zombie Will Vanderohe Become? While the soldiers bitten by Zeus at the start of Army of the Dead turn almost instantly and Scott turns shortly after being bitten in the helicopter fight, Vanderohe takes a lot longer. He's able to wait out the nuclear bombing inside the bank vault, then walk across the city and a considerable distance across the desert, then drive to an airport and commission a private plane before he even starts to feel weak. Between being bitten by the king of the zombies and then being doused in radiation, Vanderohe may not be becoming either a shambler or a regular alpha zombie. He could have some kind of resistance to the bite that prevents him from completely transforming, or the longer incubation period for his bite could mean that he'll transform into some kind of zombie that hasn't been seen yet. Did Any Other Zombies Make It Out Of Las Vegas? A nuclear bomb is a fairly thorough way of wiping out the zombies of Las Vegas, and Vanderohe was only able to survive because he was hidden in the vault. However, the many trips into and out of the city made it clear that the shipping container walls weren't exactly impenetrable, so it's possible that other zombies - or zombie brains, like the one that Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada) wanted to get his hands on - left the city before the bombing. It only takes one stray zombie to set off an apocalypse, so even if Vanderohe doesn't start another outbreak in Mexico City, the undead could start appearing elsewhere.

Final Destination trends on Twitter after a driver faced an accident reminiscent of a scene from the iconic horror series' second film. The series of films, released between 2000 to 2011, follow different groups of people who are able to survive near-death experiences after someone has visions about impending disasters. After escaping however, the survivors are hunted down by an unseen force, Death, and killed to fix the flaws in Death's design that allowed them to escape originally. Final Destination's formula worked well for the franchise, allowing it to spawn five films that each added more to this premise to give fans more gory deaths and new stories. Final Destination 2 follows Kimberly, portrayed by A.J. Cook, as her and her friends head off to celebrate spring break. Their plans are cut short after Kimberly has a vision of a lumber truck causing devastation along highway route 23. Although she is able to save lives after her vision, Death begins to hunt the survivors to finish what it started on the highway. One of the strongest and most realistic scenes in the franchise highlights the mayhem Death brings in a way the later installments fail to live up to or recreate. RELATED: Final Destination: Every Main Character Who Dies (Every Movie) On Friday, May 21st at 11:58 p.m., a user by the name of @DeeLaSheeArt posted a video of a real-life incident that appears to be almost a carbon copy of Final Destination 2's death scene where a log from a truck flies through a car's windshield on the driver's side. Since posted, Final Destination has been trending on Twitter, highlighting what @DeeLaSheeArt calls, "every millennials nightmare." Check out @DeeLaSheeArt post on Twitter to view the clip. This trending on Twitter could be a great reinvigoration for fans of the original franchise. The reminder of what made the franchise so strong in the early 2000s can get viewers excited about Final Destination 6, which creator Jeffery Reddick began developing prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that the world is reopening, the film should be able to pick up where it left off and use this momentum to hype audiences for what is to come. When real life imitates art, it only makes the art more enticing. The original Final Destination series gives plenty of carnage, destruction, and in some cases, a decent story with a realistic feel. The video surely makes the road seem dangerous, but future movies will likely continue to give viewers even more nightmares about grisly deaths. The world can be unsafe, but that fear is what the film utilizes to make audiences squirm and beg for more.

Stephen Lang and Susan Sarandon have joined the cast of Marvel's Wastelanders. Marvel and SiriusXM announced Wastelanders: Old Man Star-Lord last week, a 10-episode series about Star-Lord and Rocket returning to Earth after a 30-year absence to discover that the planet has become a desolate wasteland ruled by Dr. Doom. The lead roles of Old Man Star-Lord and Rocket will be played by The West Wing's Timothy Busfield and Schitt's Creek's Chris Elliott, respectively. Now, Marvel has announced Stephen Lang and Susan Sarandon have joined the cast of Wastelanders as Old Man Hawkeye and Black Widow. However, their appearances will come in subsequent podcast series entitled Wastelanders: Old Man Hawkeye and Wastelanders: Grey Widow. While the Old Man Star-Lord entry of Wastelanders will be released weekly starting June 1st, no release dates have been announced for Lang and Sarandon's respective storylines. It's unclear at this time whether or not the vocal talents of either actor will appear in Wastelanders: Old Man Star-Lord before their own podcasts are released. RELATED: Black Widow’s Complete MCU Timeline Explained Neither actor has appeared in a Marvel project before, but bring some experience from sci-fi and sci-fi adjacent roles. Lang memorably starred as Colonel Quaritch, the antagonist of the first Avatar film, and is set to return for the next two films in the franchise. Meanwhile, the Academy Award-winning Sarandon previously voiced Dr. Wong, the therapist introduced in Rick and Morty's infamous "Pickle Rick" episode. Given their reasonable sci-fi experience and distinct voices, Lang and Sarandon should make fine additions to Marvel's burgeoning Wastelanders podcast franchise

Zack Snyder, writer/director of Netflix’s zombie-heist spectacular Army of the Dead has gone on the record explaining the origins of the film’s primary zombie Zeus. No stranger to working on zombie films, Snyder first sunk his teeth into the genre with his 2004 remake of George A. Romero’s 1978 classic Dawn of the Dead. While working on the Dawn of the Dead remake, Snyder had also begun to develop his own idea for the Vegas-based zombie story and the project was eventually announced in 2007 with The Thing director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. attached. However, after languishing in development hell for years, Netflix finally acquired the rights in 2019 with Snyder set to assume directorial duties. Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW The film’s story follows a group of mercenaries, led by Dave Bautista’s Scott Ward, as they enter the zombie-infested city of Las Vegas to recover $200 million from a casino vault before the government drops a nuclear weapon on the site. While the film’s opening sequence explains how the Las Vegas zombie outbreak resulted when the alpha zombie Zeus escaped from a military convoy travelling from Area 51, Zeus’ own origins are never explained. However, with a great deal of lore left to be explored in Snyder’s new zombie universe, it was announced in 2020 that a prequel film, Army of Thieves, and a prequel anime series, Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas, are both in the pipeline. RELATED: Army Of Thieves: Everything We Know About The Army Of The Dead Prequel Snyder himself recently revealed a little of what audiences may come to expect from these upcoming prequels, as he divulged some key information about the zombie Zeus on a recent Livestream chat. Talking with The Film Junkee about the character’s origins, he explained, “Richards is his name. The soldier that is Zeus, but he had a name, he was a guy before." As for how the soldier formerly known as Richards became the first zombie, the live stream hosts at The Film Junkee suggested he was a "reverse Captain America'd basically." Snyder went to elaborate: “Something happened to him... He did volunteer for something, but it wasn't what he thought… He also went on a mission. It wasn't just like, come to this facility and train. He went on a quest on his own and came back as this thing." With Netflix clearly interested in allowing Snyder to fully develop and further expand on his new fictional world, it is good news there's more to learn about Zeus and how the zombie outbreak first originated. While Snyder’s work as a director on the DCEU is a matter of some contention, there is no doubt that he is a detail-orientated filmmaker who puts an enormous amount of effort into ensuring the mythology underlying his films is fully fleshed out. By providing him with the sort of creative freedom he never seemed to experience whilst working on the DC franchise, Netflix is providing Snyder with a unique opportunity to bring his visions to reality without restraint or interference. Now that fans know that Zeus has a name and a complete back story planned out, it is only a matter of time before they get to experience it for themselves in the planned Army of the Dead prequels. While no exact release date has been announced for either Army of Thieves or Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas, filming has already wrapped on Army of Thieves and it is expected to hit screens sometime later this year. In the meantime, audiences can keep their fingers crossed it will not be much longer before they can enjoy a good deal more of Snyder’s crazy, undead antics.

Original franchise star Dan Aykroyd praises Ghostbusters: Afterlife director Jason Reitman, calling him perfect for the property's legacy. Though there was a Ghostbusters movie back in 2016, fans have been waiting a long time to see a proper continuation of the beloved paranormal comedy franchise. While the 2016 Ghostbusters rebooted the series with an all-female team, Afterlife will act as a sequel to the original 80s movies and center on the newest generation of Ghostbusters. Once scheduled for release last year, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is one of the many movies to have been displaced by the pandemic; it will finally roll out this fall. Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW Centering on a single mother (Carrie Coon) and her two kids (Finn Wolfhard and McKenna Grace), Ghostbusters: Afterlife sees the small family move into the home that once belonged to the kids' grandfather. This leads them to discover their ties to the original Ghostbusters crew, right as a series of strange occurrences rock their town. Excitingly, Afterlife will feature cameos from the original cast, including Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Annie Potts, and Aykroyd. RELATED: Ghostbusters 3: Why Rick Moranis Isn't Returning For Afterlife Ghostbusters: Afterlife is directed by Jason Reitman, the son of Ivan Reitman, who helmed the first two franchise installments. Because of that, Jason certainly felt like a natural choice to take over, and the cast evidently thinks so too. In a new interview with Cigar Aficionado (via CinemaBlend), Aykroyd commented on Reitman's abilities as a director. The franchise vet described Reitman as the "perfect inheritor of the legacy as a writer, storyteller and director." Aykroyd added, "His vision derives seamlessly, respectfully and honestly from the original films. Can't wait to see the lines around the multiplex." With Ghostbusters: Afterlife having been delayed so much, the only indicator of the movie's quality has come from the stars themselves. Still, their early comments have been quite promising. Murray has said Afterlife brings the Ghostbusters franchise back to life, and Reitman even confessed the movie made his father cry. Now, Aykroyd has given his own seal of approval to Reitman's work; it sounds like fans have a lot to be excited about with this latest installment. It remains to be seen just what kind of role Aykroyd and his former co-stars will have in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but it does look like they will be reprising their original roles. That alone would make for an exciting prospect. However, the added element of Afterlife looking to bring the franchise to a new generation holds much promise as well. Should Ghostbusters: Afterlife yield sequels (which always seems likely), Reitman might find himself on board for those future installments as well. As Aykroyd said, Reitman is the perfect inheritor of the franchise, and it'll be exciting to see where he takes it next.

The Saw franchise crossed a huge benchmark, surpassing $1 billion at the box office this past weekend with Spiral. The long-running horror series began in 2004 with the original James Wan directed film that saw two men trapped in a twisty and gruesome game. Since then, the series has produced numerous sequels that upped the ante on what the original film did so well. Even though the films are less than beloved by critics, audiences have stuck around for each entry, propelling the series to a total of seven films in as many years before the franchise took a seven year break. More recently, sequel Jigsaw was released in 2017, taking place ten years after the death of the eponymous killer. Many assumed that, along with Jigsaw, the franchise was dead, but Lionsgate, the studio behind the films, felt differently. Spiral follows a hardened detective, played by Chris Rock, who must confront his city's dark past when a copycat killer mirroring Jigsaw's original games appears. Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW RELATED:Spiral: Unanswered Questions After The Saw Sequel The reappearance of Jigsaw seems to have sparked some nostalgia in fans, as Lionsgate reports (via ComingSoon) that the franchise has crossed the $1 billion mark at the box office. The estimated total for the franchise is $1,000,799,533, with the film being pushed over that mark by Spiral's take at the box office this weekend, which totaled out to around $4.5 million in North America. Internationally, Spiral grossed an additional $2.67 million with more set to come as the film rolls out in the United Kingdom and other international territories. As the summer movie season kicks into high gear, all eyes will be on the box office. Spiral was just the beginning for horror this year, with both The Conjuring 3 and A Quiet Place Part II set to debut in theaters in the coming weeks. Wan, who also serves as producer on The Conjuring franchise, now has another billion dollar franchise under his belt. The Conjuring films and their spinoffs surpassed the $1 billion mark already and are on their way to hitting $2 billion thanks to the upcoming sequel. Still, this latest news is good for fans of Saw. Lionsgate has made it clear that they have a future in mind for the franchise, with a potential Saw 10 in the works in addition to a television series. Despite the fact that the box office isn't what it once was, Spiral's promising haul is a good sign that Lionsgate will be able to continue the franchise. It also portends good things for the coming months as studios prepare to return to theaters in a big way, with horror sequels and blockbuster films slated to hit screens.

According to a new poll, audiences would prefer to watch Marvel's Black Widow in theaters instead of on Disney+. After years of playing sidekick to the main attraction, Natasha Romanoff is set to get her first solo MCU feature this July and fans couldn't be more excited. Black Widow will follow Natasha after the events of Captain America: Civil War, with the MCU's heroes divided into factions and scattered across the world. Scarlett Johansson's character will be forced to confront her mysterious past when her demons come back to haunt her and she'll have some help along the way. Rachel Weisz, Florence Pugh, and David Harbour are all set to star as Natasha's chosen family, a group of people familiar with her experience in the Red Room. In fact, Weisz's Melina Vostokoff and Pugh's Yelena Belova both have their own experiences with the Red Room to contend with and Taskmaster is set to dredge all of that up. Black Widow is finally set to release this July and when it does hit theaters, it will be over two years since Marvel last released a film. Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW RELATED:Theory: MCU's Black Widow Replacement Is Actually The RED Widow It seems that this lack of content has made fans all the more excited for the film. According to a new poll from Whip Media (via The Direct) , the majority of fans plan on watching Black Widow in theaters. 68% of those polled say they want to watch the film on the biggest screen possible. 32% said they would be watching the film from home when Marvel makes Black Widow available on Disney+. Marvel's second major release of 2021, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, had a similar response, with 64% aiming to see that film in theaters and 36% saying they would watch from home. After the film jumped around the release calendar during the pandemic, Disney finally announced that Black Widow would be hitting Disney+ the same day it is released in theaters. The film will debut via the streamer's Premier Access platform and will cost subscribers an extra $30 to watch from home. Disney had success with this strategy before - the studio released Mulan last year via the same platform and it will do the same with Cruella later this month. Doing so with one of their crown jewels, an MCU blockbuster, is a big move, though. It may also be a smart move. When Black Widow hits theaters in July, many chains will still be operating at reduced capacities. Additionally, some fans may still be reticent to go out to theaters to see the blockbuster. Still, Marvel couldn't risk delaying the film again, as they are moving full steam ahead with their Phase 4 streaming slate, making Black Widow an integral step forward in the franchise's plans. Luckily, Disney won't have to worry too much if these polls are any indication - plenty of people will be showing up to theaters regardless

Angourie Rice compares working on Spider-Man: No Way Home to going to a theme park that she can't tell anybody about. Rice got her big break in 2016 with The Nice Guys alongside Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe. She was cast in the role of Betty Brant in Spider-Man: Homecoming and her role was expanded in Spider-Man: Far From Home. She is set to return in Spider-Man: No Way Home, releasing later this year. Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are some of the biggest movies in the world with people trying to guess plot points based on anything, be it a set photo or a toy reveal. Marvel is selective about what information they release to the public and that has served them well, like hiding the Mandarin twist in Iron Man 3, the Skrulls not being the villains in Captain Marvel, or even the return of J.K. Simmons at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home. Now, as Rice explains, keeping all those secrets can be tricky when the experience of filming is so much fun. Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW RELATED: Why The MCU Probably Won't Retcon Spider-Man's Identity Being Known During an interview with Collider, Angourie Rice discussed her experience of working on a Marvel project. She shared that it is extremely fun as an actor, comparing it to a theme park, but it is so secretive she can't tell anyone except other people in the production. She also admires fans' ability to speculate about the movies from just a few photos or lines from previous films. Read Rice full comments, below: "The way that like Marvel protects the story is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. It’s so secret. Shooting Spider-Man was like getting to go to a really cool theme park, but you couldn’t tell anyone because it’s the world’s most secret theme park. That was tricky. The good thing about the second film was that I had my mother and my sister there with me, the whole time, so they were in on it and I could talk to them about anything because they were there. They are super secretive about everything. After being a part of it and seeing how people speculate from photos online and single lines in previous films, the fans of Marvel do some really great guesswork, for sure, so I understand." Rice is right with how secretive Marvel keeps its material, but some of the actors are notorious for spoiling information. Tom Holland himself is so well known for spoiling the movies that he wasn't even shown what his digitally-created suit would look like in Avengers: Infinity War until he saw the movie. Mark Ruffalo famously left his phone on during the premiere of Thor: Ragnarok and let the first few minutes of audio leak online. Even recently, Alfred Molina let slip his return as the Spider-Man 2 version of Doc Ock in Far From Home. How Rice's role as Betty will factor into Spider-Man: No Way Home is currently unknown. While Betty Brant is a major character in the Spider-Man mythos (she was played by Elizabeth Banks in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films), the MCU version is quite different from what's come before. Instead of being older than Peter, she is one of his classmates, and despite a bigger role in Spider-Man: Far From Home, due to the presence of various villains like Doc Ock and Electro and the appearance of Doctor Strange, it is highly unlikely Betty will factor into the plot in a major way. Still, it sounds as if Rice has continued to enjoy being a part of the MCU, no matter how big or small her part.

The trailer teaser for Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho reveals the first footage from the eagerly anticipated '60s horror flick. As Wright's first feature film since 2017's hit Baby Driver, Last Night in Soho was poised to be one of the most talked-about movies of last year. However, the coronavirus pandemic had to delay it more than once, with it moving most recently to October 22, 2021. Though there is still uncertainty regarding the stability of movie theaters right now, Last Night in Soho is currently set to be a part of a jam-packed fall schedule. Last Night in Soho boasts an impressive cast, led by The Queen's Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy. She'll be joined by Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit), Matt Smith, Jessie Mei Li (Shadow and Bone), and Terence Stamp. It will also feature the last onscreen appearance of the late Diana Rigg, who passed away last fall. Most plot details for Last Night in Soho are being kept under wraps, though it's been confirmed it centers on an aspiring fashion designer who is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s, where she meets her idol, an wannabe singer. RELATED: Anya Taylor-Joy: Where You Know The Queen's Gambit Break-Out Star From Ahead of Tuesday's release of the full Last Night in Soho trailer, the first bit of footage from the film has arrived online (via Focus Features). The teaser doesn't reveal much about the story, instead focusing entirely on shots of Taylor-Joy's Sandy. The clip is also bookended by shots of McKenzie falling asleep, then waking up with a gasp. Check it out below. As seen with Baby Driver and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Wright has a knack for striking visuals and aesthetics. The short glimpse of Last Night in Soho shown above fits in that lane for him, though this project already feels different from his previous efforts. Its darker, unsettling tone stands out, and it looks like he'll make great use of the Soho location. In short, this is new territory for the beloved director, and it will be thrilling to see it come to life. Audiences will get a full look at Last Night in Soho when the entire trailer debuts on Tuesday. Even without knowing what the trailer will entail, one almost hopes the plot still remains mostly a mystery. Last Night in Soho looks like it will feature some exciting twists, and it would be a shame to get them spoiled so far out from its release. Perhaps the trailer will instead show more of the cast and hint at how they all come together, since the teaser really only focuses on Taylor-Joy and McKenzie separately. There's still much to uncover about Last Night in Soho, but this first peek is pretty exciting.

New art for Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings gives a detailed look at one of the villains of the film - Razor Fist. Marvel's second film of 2021 is shrouded in mystery thanks to the fact that it is one of two films introducing brand new heroes into the MCU this year. Simu Liu will play the titular character, forced to confront his mysterious past and his connection to the Ten Rings organization, led by his father, the Mandarin (Tony Leung). The Mandarin won't be the only villain Shang-Chi has to face off against in the film, though. Connected to the Ten Rings organization are various assassins that Shang-Chi and his friends, including Awkwafina's Katy, will run into. Shang-Chi's villains are numerous, as evidenced by the fight scenes shown off in the film's first trailer. Still, Iron Man 3's Ten Rings fakeout has led many to speculate how exactly the film will incorporate these villains, the eponymous organization, and its leader into the film. While it's unlikely to be as controversial as Iron Man 3's twist, it will come with a lot of expectations and some of those may have been met with this latest image. Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW RELATED:Marvel's Phase 4 Is Paying Off The MCU's Biggest Fakeout Twists Two new t-shits, available via Amazon, show off a detailed look at Razor Fist. The character comes along with an intriguing logo, his name emblazoned across the shirts in a razor sharp font. Florian Munteanu's villain is shown with his razor blade hands, posing as if ready for a fight. Check out the photos below: Razorfist Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings shirt 2 The excitement for Marvel's upcoming theatrical slate is palpable. When Black Widow finally hits theaters and Disney+ this July, it will have been over two years since Spider-Man: Far From Home bowed in the summer of 2019. With 2020 being the first year Marvel released no new content since 2008, fans are clamoring for a return of the studio's blockbusters that dominate the release calendar. Although heavy hitters like the aforementioned Scarlet Johansson film and Spider-Man: No Way Home take up a lot of the attention, it's Marvel's new properties that are garnering a different kind of excitement. Shang-Chi has action unlike anything Marvel has seen before, according to Liu, and that alone makes the hype for the film higher than normal. This action, of course, will have a lot to do with villains like Razor Fist, even if his involvement in the film is not clear beyond his role as an assassin. Glimpses of the villain can be seen in the first trailer for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, but when the film finally releases in September, fans will finally get a fuller picture of his role in the film.

Army of the Dead had a big Snyder Cut Easter egg in one scene, but it turns out it was way more of a joke than we realized. Early promotional images for Snyder's new zombie flick revealed the team breaking into the vault, and on the side of the vault door you could clearly see a set of film canisters with a label identifying them as Zack Snyder's director's cut of Justice League, but there was more ironic context to the scene when it finally arrived on Netflix. Army of the Dead originally went into production in the summer of 2019, months before Snyder says he ever thought the release of the Snyder Cut was even a possibility. As a result, the movie had reached this mythic status, so the idea of making it locked away in a vault in Vegas is a pretty funny meta-joke. The canister props were also shared to social media by Snyder when he declared that the Snyder Cut was totally real and existed, giving even more meaning to the props when they were glimpsed in the film's promotion. Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW RELATED: Army Of The Dead Ending, Final Scene & Franchise Future Explained However, once the movie arrived, it turned out the scene from all the promo images and trailers was from a fake imagined version of the heist. Not only were multiple people there who were never even in the vault, from Damon (the guy who bailed before the mission even started) to Chambers (who was already dead by the time they got to the vault) or Peters (who was always on the roof working on the helicopter). Additionally, when the team opened the real vault, there was nothing visible other than the pile of cash, meaning the Snyder Cut was only a figment of the imagination of the heist crew. There's certainly a bit of humor in the fact that, in the movie, Snyder presents the Snyder Cut as something that's out of reach and only in the imagination of the main cast, but the fact that Snyder posted the props to social media and many people took it as tangible "proof" of the Snyder Cut's existence makes it even more humorous. Snyder never actually claimed that's what the image was, he merely posted the image and said "is it real? Does it exist? Of course it does," which was a factual statement, and one that didn't even need visual proof as many other people from production were making the claim, and Justice League's production timeline itself indicated there was enough work done on that version of the movie. Regardless, the Snyder Cut reels were already one of the funnier interesting Easter eggs in the movie, and it's only funnier knowing the full context, especially considering the Snyder Cut ended up being released before Army of the Dead even came out. Snyder himself may say he thought it was a dream at the time, but it just shows how quickly some things can change.

A new piece of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse fan art imagines Andy Samberg as a live-action Peter B. Parker. As the title of the film suggests, 2018's animated Into the Spider-Verse movie involved multiple versions of Spider-Man, including Spider-Ham, Spider-Man Noir, and even Spider-Man 2099 in the film's mid-credits scene. However, the main Spider-Man character was Miles Morales, who was being trained by Earth-616's Peter B. Parker. While Sony dove into the multiverse concept in animated form, the MCU looks to be doing the same thing with Phase 4. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is obviously dealing with different realities and dimensions, and Spider-Man: No Way Home is also believed to be involving the multiverse. There have been multiple reports that Tobey Maguire, who played Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's trilogy, and Andrew Garfield, who appeared in Marc Webb's two Amazing Spider-Man movies, are in talks to join the MCU this year. Garfield recently denied his involvement in Spider-Man: No Way Home and Sony debunked the Maguire/Garfield rumors back in October 2020. Yet people still believe Tom Holland soon won't be the only live-action Spider-Man in the MCU. RELATED: Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse 2 - What We Know So Far Digital artist venomhology has now imagined Samberg as the next live-action Spider-Man. Samberg appears in the art as Peter B. Parker, who was voiced by New Girl's Jake Johnson in Sony's animated adventure. With Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 on the way, as well as an all-female spin-off, Sony will likely include even more versions of Spider-Man in future animated movies. When it comes to live-action, Holland is still the only Spider-Man confirmed for Spider-Man: No Way Home. The casting of Alfred Molina as Doc Ock and Jamie Foxx as Electro clearly suggests that past Spider-Man films could be sewn into the MCU, but Marvel of course won't confirm that storyline just yet. While it seems unlikely that Spider-Man: No Way Home would include more versions of Spider-Man in addition to Maguire and Garfield's, nothing can be ruled out just yet. With that in mind, Marvel would no doubt be criticized if they included Samberg as Peter Parker and left out Maguire and/or Garfield. Fans have been clamoring for years to see the three actors team up in a live-action Spider-Verse movie. Since Peter B. Parker was used as comedic relief in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Samberg would seem like a logical choice given his background on SNL and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Spider-Man: No Way Home could eventually cast Maguire and Garfield, but unfortunately, Samberg as Peter B. Parker is nothing more than a fun fan casting.

Dwayne Johnson has shared a new image of his character from the set of Black Adam. The Rock has been involved in the development of a Black Adam movie for over a decade, yet the film has faced numerous delays and setbacks. Johnson was officially cast as Black Adam back in 2014 and was supposed to appear in 2019's Shazam. However, that plan was scrapped in favor of giving each character their own solo films first. DC FanDome gave the first look at Black Adam last June with the reveal of the anti-hero's suit via concept art and an animated concept trailer. Several key characters have been cast since then including Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Dr. Fate (Pierce Brosnan), and Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), and filming just began on the superhero movie last month after being delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Rock has shared countless photos of his workout routine for Black Adam, but he's now shared an official look at the film. Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW RELATED: DC FanDome 2021: What To Expect From Movies & TV Johnson shared the new image from Black Adam on his Instagram account. Johnson's photo doesn't show Black Adam's finished superhero look, but rather his character covered in a black cloak. The actor also briefly described the character's mythology and again reiterated that the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe is about to change. Johnson gave an update on filming along with the image, saying that production was going "great." This will surely be a relief as the release date for Black Adam has already been pushed back several times. Most productions are up and running now that COVID-19 vaccines are starting to roll out around the world, so it's very possible that Black Adam will finish filming in time to meet its July 2022 release date. With filming going smoothly as of right now, DC will also likely have more Black Adam content to share at DC FanDome 2021, if not sooner. The new look at Black Adam might not fully reveal his costume, but it is the first official look at the character on set. While most of Johnson's body is covered in the shot, his boots indicate that he might be wearing his full suit underneath the cloak as they look very similar to the previously released concept art. Johnson has been teasing the reveal of his Black Adam costume for the last few days, with a previous post revealing the smallest peek at the gold symbol on his chest. With this most recent update, it's possible DC or Johnson could reveal the suit in all its glory soon.

Shadow and Bone actress Daisy Head has been added to the cast of an upcoming film adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons from Paramount Pictures. The English actress plays Genya Safin in Netflix's recent hit fantasy series, which is based on a novel series by Leigh Bardugo. Since its invention in the 70s, the classic fantasy storytelling game has become a cultural phenomenon responsible for popularizing role-playing as a format for other tabletop and video games. A previous film adaptation of the game in 2000 was considered unsuccessful yet produced two sequels. RELATED: Stranger Things: Every D&D Monster Referenced, So Far Deadline reports that Paramount and eOne have added Daisy Head to the cast of their Dungeons & Dragons movie reboot. Head's role in the film has not yet been revealed. The film will feature an ensemble cast in the spirit of the game's "party" of players. Dungeons & Dragons has also cast Chris Pine, Rege-Jean Page, Michelle Rodriguez, Hugh Grant, Justice Smith, and Sophia Lillis. Jason Wong was most recently added to the cast as a character named Drallas. The movie is set in the Forgotten Realms, one of the multiple fantasy worlds that exist within D&D, so it's safe to assume that Head's character is someone who would normally exist there. Pine and Rodriguez star as the film's escaped prisoners with Grant cast as its villain, Forge Fletcher. Lillis will play a character named Doric. Production has begun for an anticipated release date of March 3, 2023. Here's the official synopsis for Paramount's Dungeons & Dragons adaptation, co-written and co-directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley: "An ex-Harper turned thief escapes from prison with his partner, a female barbarian, and reunites with a no-talent wizard and a druid new to their team in an effort to rob the cheating conman who stole all their loot from the heist that landed them behind bars, and used it to install himself as the Lord of Neverwinter. Only the traitor is allied with a powerful Red Wizard who has something far more sinister in store. Being directed by Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley, and starring Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez."

Dave Bautista says he still hasn't met his Army of the Dead co-star, Tig Notaro, after the actress was digitally inserted into the film post-production. Army of the Dead was released on Netflix on May 21st, 2021, and has received mostly positive feedback from critics. The film is directed, produced, and written by Zack Snyder, who has returned to the zombie genre 17-years after his debut feature film Dawn of the Dead. Army of the Dead is a heist movie set in Las Vegas, with a unique zombie twist. Originally, Chris D'Elia was slated to appear in the film in the pilot role. However, shortly after filming, allegations of sexual harassment arose against D'Elia, and his role was subsequently cut from the film. Thus, comedian and actress Notaro was selected to take on the role and fill in the gaps left by D'Elia's removal. Of course, the movie couldn't be entirely re-shot with Notaro, so she had to be meticulously edited into the movie using a green screen and CG scans. Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW RELATED: Army Of The Dead: What Happened To Geeta As reported by IndieWire, Bautista has yet to meet Notaro since her appearance in Army of the Dead was digitally inserted after filming. Bautista finds it strange that he starred in the same movie as Notaro but never got the opportunity to meet her. Check out his statement below: "It was weird, because, you know, I wasn’t there. And when I watch it, I feel like I was there. There’s a connection that’s missing there. But I don’t feel like the movie misses a beat. Anybody who doesn’t know that that’s the case won’t pick up on it at all. Tig fits right in, and her chemistry fits right in. What really bothers me, when I watch this film — it bothers me that I don’t know Tig. I feel like I should know her. I want to meet her, and I want to hug her and tell her how amazing she was in the film. I’ve been able to do that with all my other co-stars, and I haven’t been able to do it with Tig because I haven’t met her yet. I think she’s amazing and is incredible in the film." Snyder revealed that it cost millions for Netflix to replace D'Elia with Notaro, but it was worth the effort. As Bautista notes, most viewers would not be able to detect that Notaro was digitally inserted. However, while it worked well for the actual film, it must have been a difficult journey off-screen. The only co-star that Notaro physically appeared on screen with was de la Reguera, in a scene that took about half a day to film. Every other scene, Notaro filmed solo in front of a green screen. Not only was it difficult for her, but for the others as well, as Bautista acknowledges that there was a missed connection there. Despite the drawbacks of being digitally edited into a film, Notaro managed to pull it off. Notaro's insertion into Army of the Dead is truly something else, and it also reveals quite a bit about the respectability of Netflix and Snyder for willingly accepting the cost of millions to prevent an alleged sexual abuser from appearing in the film. Sexual assault allegations are, sadly, becoming all too common in Hollywood as celebrities choose to use their power and influence in corrupt ways. Army of the Dead's solution suggests that there are better ways that films can handle such allegations within their cast and crew to avoid supporting known abusers. Hollywood needs to take initiative in diminishing scenarios where an abuser can push their allegations under the carpet and still receive praise, awards, and compensation despite their actions. Hopefully, more films choose to follow the example of Army of the Dead in dealing with sexual abuse and refusing to give abusers a platform.

New fan art imagines what The Witcher’s Henry Cavill could look like as Connor MacLeod in the upcoming Highlander reboot. Released in 1986, the original Highlander is a fantasy-adventure film that followed the story of an immortal race of warriors down through the centuries, who were all destined to fight until the last few would meet at the Gathering and fight for the Prize. Starring Christopher Lambert as the lead character Connor MacLeod, a 16th-century Scottish highlander, and Sean Connery as his mentor Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez, the film would spawn several sequels of varying quality, two live-action spin-off series, an animated series, and an animated film. In March 2008, Lionsgate owned Summit Entertainment announced that they had purchased the film rights to the Highlander franchise and were planning a fresh reboot of the property. After cycling through several other potential directors, including The Fast and the Furious’ Justin Lin, it would take another 8 years before John Wick co-director Chad Stahelski was tapped to helm the project. Recently, it was reported that Man of Steel’s and The Witcher’s Cavill was in final negotiations to tackle one of the film’s two lead roles. RELATED: Highlander: The Oldest Immortal Methos Explained In response to this latest news, prolific fan artist Bosslogic has taken to Instagram and posted his take on what Cavill may look like as Connor MacLeod. Brandishing a Scottish Claymore, the traditional sword of the Scottish clansmen, Cavill looks every bit the part of the immortal warrior Connor MacLeod. Check out the original post below: Despite poor reception to the sequels, the original Highlander remains a much-beloved property in the pop-culture landscape. Mixing classic fantasy tropes with high-action sword fighting, the initial 1986 film is an enduring classic made even better by the amazing soundtrack supplied by rock legends Queen. It is still not clear whether Cavill will be playing the same character that was first made famous by Lambert. However, he does have the acting chops to do the role justice and his sword handling experience on The Witcher is also bound to serve him well if he is cast. If the social media buzz surrounding the news of his casting is any measure, the fandom seems more than keen to welcome him to the role. After slowly simmering away in the development pipeline for 13 years, this latest announcement of Cavill’s involvement is a good indication that the long-gestating plans for a Highlander reboot are finally getting ready to move into active production. Over the years several names have been rumored to be attached to the project, including long-running whispers of Tom Cruise being eyed to tackle Sean Connery’s role as Ramirez, but no news about the project has been as well-received as the reports of Cavill’s recent casting. However, until filming officially begins and fans finally get to see him with a sword in hand at the Gathering, Cavill still has a lot more on his plate in the immediate future, including The Witcher season 2 and the recently announced sequel to Enola Holmes.

The now classic vault scene from the first Mission: Impossible film was almost cut because Tom Cruise kept hitting his face on the ground. When legendary filmmaker Brian De Palma first gave the popular 1960s TV series life on the big screen in 1996, very few people could have predicted that Mission: Impossible would go on to become an enormously popular franchise 25 years later. But aside from kicking off what has undeniably been a highly lucrative franchise, the first Mission: Impossible film also marked the start of Cruise’s rather seamless transition into high-stakes action filmmaking. Prior to Mission: Impossible, Cruise had starred in the action flicks Top Gun and Days of Thunder. However, Mission: Impossible gave Cruise something far more different than those past films had; he began to push himself physically to create on-screen moments that were enough to draw in audiences. Though the first movie didn’t offer the same caliber of jaw-dropping stunts that future Mission: Impossible installments did, the film still had its share of impressive moments, with one moment in particular going on to become one of the franchise’s most recognizable. Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW RELATED:Why Top Gun: Maverick Flopping Could Be Good For Tom Cruise As 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of De Palma’s Mission: Impossible, Cruise recently sat down to chat about one of his most memorable moments working on the film. But as he tells Paramount Movies' official YouTube channel, the famed vault scene in which Ethan Hunt is lowered horizontally within inches of an alarmed floor wasn’t so easy to shoot. In fact, the scene came very close to being scrapped altogether, had Cruise’s signature determination not helped him find a way to make the challenging feat work: When you look at that shot, I’m going from the computer to the floor and I remember we were running out of time and I went down to the floor, and I kept hitting my face and the take didn’t work. And we were running out of time – we had a lot we had to do. So I went up to the stunt guys and I said, "Give me coins." You know, here in England they have pound coins, so I put the pound coins in and I hung on the cables to see was I level. And I had to make it, you know, and so I said okay I said, Brian was like, "One more and I’m gonna cut into it and do it," and I said, "I can do it," you know. It was also very physical, like straining, I’m doing it. So I went down, starting at the computer, went all the way down – beautiful set, like De Palma is, has got amazing taste - went down on the floor and I didn’t touch, and I remember I was there, I was like, Oh, my gosh, I didn’t touch. And I was holding it, holding it, holding it, holding it. And I’m sweating and I’m sweating and then, he just keeps rolling. I just realize, Brian is like, he’s doing it, he is like, he is working it. It’s like we did it, we did it, we did it, I’m like, I am not going to stop. And I just hear him off camera and I could - he’s got a very distinct laugh – and a very, you know, when he laughs it makes me laugh and he just, I could just hear him start to howl and he goes "Alright…cut." As with most of Cruise’s stunt work in the franchise, he managed to make the physicality of it all seem simple. But as he clearly points out, the vault scene was anything but simple and it was only through Cruise’s own determination that the scene ultimately ended up in the film. It’s hard to imagine what Mission: Impossible would have been like without that scene, but the series is arguably much richer for it. What’s more, Cruise’s triumph over the more challenging aspects of the scene allowed him to push himself even further in subsequent installments. Today it feels like the stunt work in Mission: Impossible isn’t quite on the same level as what was being done even four years later in Mission: Impossible 2, let alone what audiences have become accustomed to in more recent years. The stunts in the Mission: Impossible franchise have become increasingly dangerous for Cruise to pull off, with recent entries having him hang from a flying plane and jumping across rooftops. But the vault scene was unique for its time, spawning imitators as well as parodies and ultimately giving the franchise the boost it needed to be in a league of its own.

You’re Next writer Simon Barrett has confirmed there were never plans for a sequel to the horror film. The 2011 home invasion film depicts a family under attack from a group of masked assailants. The slasher has gained a cult following since its release, with fans praising the feminist depiction of Erin (played by Australian actress Sharni Vinson) who grew up in a survivalist compound and turns the tables on her attackers. The film was directed by Adam Wingard, a frequent collaborator of Barrett’s. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Simon Barrett has confirmed that there were never plans for a You’re Next sequel. Barrett explains that there was some talk of "making a sequel if the [original] film was successful", but the screenwriter "never actually wrote anything down". After the movie flopped commercially, Barrett was "glad" he had not done any actual work on a follow-up. Read Barrett’s full quote: "The full answer is, after You’re Next sold but before it was released in theaters — which was a two-year process due to some corporate changes at Lionsgate at that time — we talked a bit about making a sequel if the film was successful. I think we had some cool ideas, but like with The Guest, You’re Next was never originally intended to have a sequel. We were excited to make one if there was any interest, but I never actually wrote anything down. Adam and I just bounced some ideas around, and then when the movie flopped, I was glad I hadn’t done any actual work." RELATED: You’re Next: Every Horror Movie Final Girl Trope It Subverted However, fans who hope to see more of Erin may be in luck. "I hope Erin’s doing great," said Barrett. The director confirmed he and Wingard are hoping to work with Vinson again “soon” on a project. "Maybe we’ll call her character Erin in that film and people can try to figure out what her intervening decade must have been," he joked. While not the true sequel some may have hoped for, another collaboration between Barrett, Wingard, and Vinson could prove even more satisfying. As Barrett mentions, You're Next wasn't created with a sequel in mind, so forcing one could hurt the original. Instead, whatever their next project together turns out to be, it could serve as a spiritual sequel, allowing Barrett and Wingard to create another hero for Vinson who subverts even more horror tropes. Although Wingard and Barrett won’t be collaborating on a You’re Next sequel, the two went on to further success after the film. The pair collaborated on thriller The Guest, which likewise faced commercial disappointment at the box office but developed a cult following. Wingard has found major blockbuster success helming Godzilla vs. Kong, the fourth film in Legendary’s MonsterVerse. Barrett has continued to work in the horror genre, writing and directed the supernatural film Seance. The film stars Suki Waterhouse and is available in select theaters and on demand from May 21 2021

Karen Gillan is an assassin on a mission in a new trailer teaser for Gunpowder Milkshake. Gillan first came to the attention of mainstream audiences thanks to her role as Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy. In 2017, the actress joined another big franchise when she co-starred with Dwayne Johnson in the smash hit reboot movie Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Those two action-heavy franchises certainly showed Gillan’s ability to take on physically demanding roles. In Gunpowder Milkshake, Gillan plays another kind of action heroine, taking on the role of a female assassin. The upcoming Netflix movie also stars Angela Bassett, Lena Headey, Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh and Paul Giamatti. RELATED: Every Summer 2021 Movie Coming To Netflix Few specifics have been revealed thus far about the plot of Gunpowder Milkshake. But more should become clear when the movie’s first trailer finally arrives. As revealed in Gillan’s own Twitter post, that trailer will be along next Tuesday. The teaser video featured in the post also gives fans their first good look at Gillan’s character while giving some hints about the movie’s plot. See the clip in the space below: A previously released Gunpowder Milkshake plot synopsis reads, “A secret sisterhood of female assassins, over the course of a single night, fight to stop a cycle of violence while coming to the aid of a mother-daughter assassin duo.” That description is vague to be sure, but the new teaser does fill in a few important details. Firstly, it reveals the existence of an organization called “The Firm,” which seems reminiscent of the High Table from the John Wick universe. Giamatti’s character is clearly an important figure in The Firm, if he’s not the outright leader. Gillan’s character then is a decidedly John Wick-like character who is brought in to “clean up” when things go awry. But Gillan is clearly over The Firm, and it appears she and her fellow assassins Headey, Bassett, Gugino and Yeoh are ready to team up and take down the organization. John Wick is the obvious first thing that comes to mind when viewing the teaser, though Kill Bill and Atomic Blonde are recalled as well. Judging by this new glimpse at Gunpowder Milkshake and particularly Gillan’s character, it seems the actress is ready to join Keanu Reeves, Uma Thurman and Charlize Theron as one of the movie world’s biggest action heroes. But don’t forget about Bassett, Headey, Gugino and Yeoh, all of whom have established their own action movie credentials over the years. Yeoh especially qualifies as an action movie icon thanks to her work in Hong Kong films in the 1990s as well as later works. Gunpowder Milkshake should give its female cast a great showcase for their various skills as they take on Giamatti and the evil Firm.

F9 is already breaking pandemic box-office records after only being released in eight countries. F9, the latest installment in The Fast and Furious franchise won't open in the United States till June 25, but the film has already begun to roll out in international markets after screening for a select group of critics in the United States. The hope for the studio is to catch an audience's need to go back to the movies after a year of little to no theatrical experiences. F9 isn't the first film back in theaters, as major titles like Raya and the Last Dragon, Mortal Kombat, and Tom & Jerry had already opened. So far the biggest winner at the pandemic box office has been Godzilla vs. Kong, which was the highest-grossing opening weekend during the pandemic. GvK has also outgrossed its predecessor Godzilla: King of the Monsters at the worldwide box-office despite all the restrictions on theaters throughout the world. However, it looks like F9 is the new king of the box office. Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW RELATED: Fast & Furious 9'S Rocket Car Explained According to Variety, F9 is expected to gross $160 million over the three day weekend. The film has already grossed $127 million, and China alone accounts for $105 million. Godzilla vs. Kong opened to $121 million worldwide in its opening weekend and was released in 38 countries as opposed to F9's eight markets. F9 was one of the first films to delay its release due to the COVID-19 pandemic before theaters in the United States started to close. Many saw this because China had already closed theaters and The Fast and the Furious franchise is a big moneymaker for Universal Pictures in China. The Fate of the Furious and Furious 7 are the second and third highest-grossing foreign films in China, respectively, behind only Avengers: Endgame. F9 was set to open in North America on May 28, 2021, before another set of delays caused Universal to postpone the release to June. While F9 is lighting up the worldwide box office, all eyes are on films like Cruella and A Quiet Place: Part II, which will open up on Memorial Day weekend, to see if U.S. audiences are ready to go back to the theater. By the time F9 opens in stateside, the domestic box office will have seen In the Heights, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway testing the water. With a strong box office performance already, Universal can hope F9 will be seen as the first big summer blockbuster to welcome audiences back and get an early start to the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

A Quiet Place Part II may not be the typical feel-good family movie, but Neil Patrick Harris watched it with his daughter who loved the horror film. The 47-year-old comedian shares two children, twins Gideon Scott and Harper Grace, with husband David Burtka. Aside from starring in successful projects such as Gone Girl and A Series of Unfortunate Events, Harris is also loved by fans for posting adorable pictures with his family every Halloween. Harris' review on A Quiet Place Part II comes ahead of the film's theatrical release on May 28. The movie is a sequel to the 2018 film about a family trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by blind monsters. Emily Blunt reprises her role as Evelyn Abbot, a mother of three who faces the insurmountable task of keeping her children safe after the loss of her husband (played in the first movie by John Krasinki). After the sound-sensitive creatures have ravaged their home, the Abbots need to venture out in search of a safe place. Like the first movie, A Quiet Place Part II is written and directed by Blunt's real-life husband, Krasinski, who also appears in a short flashback scene. Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW RELATED: A Quiet Place 2: Biggest Questions The Sequel Can Answer Harris recently took to Twitter to share his short but telling review on A Quiet Place Part II. The How I Met Your Mother star said the thriller is just as "AWESOME" as the first film. Harris shared that he saw the highly anticipated sequel with his 10-year-old daughter Harper. The comedian joked that his little girl loved all the suspense so much that she now has "stopped sleeping." Harris's comment has reached Krasinki who re-tweeted the post and thanked the veteran comedian for his hilariously honest movie review. Following the box office success of A Quiet Place in 2018, Krasinki began developing the plot for the second movie. However, the sequel met a series of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After a long wait, the highly anticipated sequel is finally set to make its way to the theaters on May 28. Aside from Harris, other movie critics have already given their positive reviews on A Quiet Place Part II, proving that Krasinki's thrilling saga isn't a one-time fluke. While the original film was a major commercial success, A Quiet Place II certainly takes on a whole new relevance in this pandemic era. Many viewers will be able to relate to its story of struggle and survival after having experienced lockdowns while fighting an invisible virus. Additionally, the movie's theatrical release is crucial just as cinemas are starting to open up on the tail of COVID-19. Based on the string of rave reviews it's been getting, A Quiet Place II promises to be an exciting cinematic event.

When asked who he would choose to play him in a biopic, Michael Douglas chose fellow actor and producer, John Krasinski. The star of The Kominsky Method has a Hollywood pedigree few can claim, as the son of actors Diana Dill and Kirk Douglas. The legendary Kirk Douglas died just last year at the age of 103, as one of the last surviving film stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Michael has lived up to his parents' legacy in both his illustrious acting career, as well as the success of his production ventures, winning his first Academy Award in the Best Picture category for the 1975 film, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. For the next five decades, he would continue to achieve one accomplishment after another. Continue Scrolling To Keep ReadingClick the button below to start this article in quick view. START NOW Douglas' filmography is remarkably vast and varied, with sixty-eight credits to his name, including everything from political thriller films to sitcom cameos. Any decade of his career just by itself is packed with critically acclaimed performances and box office hits. Recently, he has portrayed Dr. Hank Pym in two Ant-Man films and Avengers: Endgame, with a third Ant-Man installment scheduled for release in 2023. He also stars as acting coach, Sandy Kominsky, in the Golden Globe-winning Netflix comedy, The Kominsky Method. The third and final season of the show is set to air later this month. RELATED:John Krasinski's Ratatouille Sketch Proves SNL Needs Absurdity With a life story like Douglas's, any actor would likely be thrilled to play him in a biopic, but Douglas already knows who he would choose. In an interview with Deadline, Douglas said he would pick John Krasinski for the role. Read Douglas' full quote below: John Krasinski. Because of his compassion, his humor. Compassion and humor can take you a long way. I sense in him that he makes a conscientious effort where the material is good to try different types of roles. A Quiet Place director, John Krasinski, didn't start acting with connections like Douglas, but he's clearly demonstrated the same drive to explore a variety of genres and different positions in the production process. Krasinski got his big break as nice guy Jim Halpert on the hit comedy series, The Office, and appeared in several successful comedy films before pivoting to more action and thriller projects. Like Douglas, Krasinski also has a passion for film production, and often acts in the projects he produces. In the same interview, Douglas lamented that comedy performances rarely get their due even though he believes comedy to be much more difficult than drama. Krasinski has clearly demonstrated his comedic chops time and time again, often in tandem with a touching emotional performance. Douglas's most iconic roles are arguably from erotic thrillers like Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction, but he can be outrageously funny when given the opportunity. Even Wall Street's corrupt Gordon Gekko brings a sense of humor and levity to the movie, as twisted as it may be. Krasinski could very well straddle that same line between charm and a propensity for a bit of wickedness. No biopic of Douglas's life is currently in the works, but anyone who tried to tackle the project would have plenty of material from which to choose. Between his famous family, his exceptional career, and his highly publicized marriage to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, Douglas could be the subject of a biopic franchise. Even if Krasinski didn't take on the lead role himself, the potential project could be just as appealing to join as a producer. Either way, Douglas' stamp of approval is high praise from a legend.