Feige & Whedon Talk Being Accused Of ‘Ruining Hollywood’

Despite combining to create one of the most beloved franchises in movie history, Marvel’s Joss Whedon and Kevin Feige have recently found themselves at the receiving end of a bit of criticism regarding Hollywood’s so-called ‘superhero fatigue’ problem. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone to promote Age Of Ultron, the pair sat down and addressed some of their critics’ concerns…

Kevin Feige, upon being asked about whether superhero films are “ruining hollywood”:

“Well, I will say we’re in good company. If you look through the decades of people who’ve been accused of that. Star Wars ruined Hollywood, Steven Spielberg ruined Hollywood — I’ll be in that company any day of the week.
“But the truth is, we don’t spend a lot of time looking at that stuff because we’re too busy trying to make the movies. I haven’t been involved in a project that’s been nominated for an Independent Spirit award, but I imagine those people put all their blood, sweat, and tears into it to try to get it done. That’s exactly what we do over here every single day.”

Whedon seemed to take the criticism in good humor, while building on Feige’s earlier comments:

“They don’t have the Hulk. The Hulk wants to do more independent stuff. It’s just his agent… The Marvel paradigm is new and is being copied by a lot of people, because it worked. But they’re being blamed for something that happened long before comic books became the basis for a lot of these blockbusters.”
“As for whether the paradigm will sustain itself or whether or not people will get sick of superheroes, who knows? Sure, I could stand to make a movie where guys don’t have to be sewn into their outfits. That would be fun. But a lot of vitriol has come Kevin’s way and Marvel’s way. I think perhaps that is misguided.”

Feige concluded the interview by responding to a question many people have been wondering about – when he thinks the superhero bubble will pop:

“As soon as there are a bunch of them that are terrible, that’s when it will end. I don’t believe in the superhero-movie genre. With Guardians of the Galaxy, we wanted to do a big space movie; with Ant-Man, we wanted to do a heist movie; Winter Solider, we wanted to do a political thriller.”
“I’m more entertained by all of those kind of movies when there’s superheroes in the middle of them, so that works out for me. But, I do believe and hope that that’s what we’ll continue to sustain, at least the ones we’re responsible for. The other ones we have nothing to do with – and we go see them when they come out on opening weekend.”

Ant-Man will be in theaters July 17, 2015; Captain America: Civil War – May 6, 2016; Doctor Strange – November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man reboot – July 28, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 4, 2018; Black Panther – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel – November 2, 2018; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – May 3, 2019; Inhumans – July 12, 2019.

Source: Rolling Stones 

Sony Pictures Developing Female 21 JUMP STREET & MEN IN BLACK Crossover

Sony Pictures will continue to grow its popular “Jump Street” universe, commissioning dual development of both a female-driven spinoff and a franchise crossover with “Men in Black” that was originally outlined in its leaked emails.

“Broad City” writers Lucia Aniello and Paul Downs have been hired to write the female-driven spinoff, which will feature the same comedic tone as “21 Jump Street” and its even more successful sequel.

The studio declined to comment on the comedy project, based on the Fox series that aired between 1987 and 1991 and starred Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise as undercover cops.

Sony Pictures began work last year on “23 Jump Street,” selecting Rodney Rothman to script the third version of the Channing Tatum-Jonah Hill franchise. The directing team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who helmed “21 Jump Street” and “22 Jump Street,” are overseeing development of the script and will produce the third film with Neal Moritz, Hill and Tatum.

“21 Jump Street” took aim at reboots, while “22 Jump Street” targeted sequels, so it makes sense that the next “Jump Street” movie will send-up the current trend of Shared Movie Universes by having Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum enter the “Men in Black” universe and investigate aliens.

Producer Neal Moritz and his Original Films will steer dual development of the “Jump Street” extensions along with Hill, Tatum and Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who directed the first two films.
The “Jump Street” franchise has been a bright spot for Sony, which has seen solid returns from the series. The first “Jump Street” movie grossed just over $200 million worldwide but the sequel took the franchise to the next level, grossing $331 million worldwide — an exceptional haul for an R-rated action-comedy.

Dakota Johnson actually played one of the young officers in “21 Jump Street” before she starred in “Fifty Shades of Grey,” so it’s possible she could return to anchor the female-driven spinoff. Aniello and Downs have helped “Broad City” become a breakout hit on Comedy Central, and it’s also possible that Sony could recruit talent from that network, such as Amy Schumer, Jessica Williams and “Broad City” stars Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson.

As for the “Men in Black” crossover, which writer-producer-star Hill was especially excited about in the leaked Sony emails, it remains unclear whether Will Smith would be involved, let alone Tommy Lee Jones or Josh Brolin.

“Men in Black 3” had the franchise’s highest global haul, with $624 million worldwide, though it also had the lowest domestic gross in the series, with only $179 million in the U.S. That indicates that while international interest has never been higher, American audiences are growing weary of “MIB.” “Jump Street,” on the other hand, has had higher domestic grosses than foreign grosses, so a combination of the two franchises may prove to be more beneficial to Sony at the worldwide box office.

With female-driven movies continuing to strike gold at the box office, Sony has invested more resources in catering to female audiences, including casting Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon in its upcoming “Ghostbusters” reboot.

Source: THR / The Wrap

SPIDER-MAN Actor Shortlist

According to The Wrap Sony Pictures and Marvel have narrowed down their list of “Spider-Man” contenders to a select group of up-and-coming actors that includes Nat Wolff, Asa Butterfield, Tom Holland, Timothee Chalamet and Liam James, among others.

Sony is preparing to make test offers to several young stars next week, with a decision expected in the next 2-3 weeks, though a deal may take longer to hammer out. To be clear, none of the five actors above have test offers, but multiple individuals with knowledge of the situation have confirmed they are strong contenders who are definitely in the mix as of right now, and the group paints a picture of the kind of actor the studios want.

While the new Spider-Man is expected to have a cameo in Marvel’s “Captain America: Civil War,” which starts filming very soon, the role won’t need to be filled until June, when the character will be needed on set.

The new “Spider-Man” movie has been shrouded in secrecy, and as with any shortlist, there are actors in the mix whose identities remain a secret. It’s also possible that one of the aforementioned quintet may not end up testing for the coveted role, but as of right now, those are the five actors

Drew Goddard remains the frontrunner to direct the new “Spider-Man” movie, which is expected to be set in high school. All of the five actors above can pass for high school students, including Wolff, who at 20 years old, is the oldest of the quintet. Wolff is riding high off “The Fault In Our Stars,” and stars opposite Cara Delevingne in the next John Green adaptation, “Paper Towns,” in which he plays a high school student.

Chalamet and James have had similar career trajectories. Both starred on hit TV shows — Chalamet on “Homeland” and James on “The Killng” — and have made a successful jump to features. Chalamet played Matthew McConaughey‘s son in Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar,” while James carried the hit indie “The Way Way Back” on his young shoulders.

Likewise, Holland was arguably the lead of the acclaimed drama “The Impossible,” which launched his career. He also co-stars in Ron Howard’s whale tale “In the Heart of the Sea.”

Butterfield may be the best known among the five actors, having played the lead in “Ender’s Game” and Martin Scorsese‘s “Hugo.” He’s also the lead in Tim Burton‘s adaptation of “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.”

The new standalone “Spider-Man” movie is slated to swing into theaters on July 28, 2017.

The Avengers: Age of Ultron will be in theaters May 1, 2015; Ant-Man on July 17, 2015; Captain America: Civil War – May 6, 2016; Doctor Strange – November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man reboot – July 28, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 4, 2018; Black Panther – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel – November 2, 2018; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – May 3, 2019; Inhumans – July 12, 2019.

Source: The Wrap

Sony WILL Animate SPIDER-MAN With ‘Lego’ Filmmakers

Tom Rothman came out swinging at CinemaCon. He announced in Vegas that Lego Movie helmers Phil Lord & Christopher Miller will make an animated feature of Spider-Man. They’ll conceive with an eye to direct it.

We knew that the animated film was in the works, and that Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua planned to do a sequel to their 2014 film The Equalizer. Rothman formalized that, too.

It doesn’t impede the progress of a new line of Spidey live-action films in the works, these with Marvel chief Kevin Feige in a producing capacity. The animated film will be released July 20, 2018. The live-action sequel will be released July 28, 2017.

Source: Deadline

THE EQUALIZER Gets Sequel

Sony has officially announced a sequel to the Denzel Washington thriller “The Equalizer.”

Rumors of an “Equalizer” follow-up began months before the R-rated auctioneer opened in September, but it was the film’s strong box office results and home entertainment sales that ultimately pulled the trigger on the second installment.

Washington is expected to reprise his role as vigilante Robert McCall in “Equalizer 2.” Chloe Moretz and Marton Csokas co-starred in the original.

Based on the 1980s TV series, “The Equalizer” earned over $192 million at the global box office last year. It was co-financed by Village Roadshow and debuted at the Toronto Film Festival.

Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”) directed the first “Equalizer.” It’s unknown whether he’ll return for the sequel. He and Washington are next re-teaming on MGM’s remake of “Magnificent Seven,” which reunites the duo with “Training Day” actor Ethan Hawke.

Source: Variety

Prepare For The VALIANT CINEMATIC UNIVERSE

Valiant Entertainment has officially signed on with Sony Pictures, entering a five-picture deal that will bring a Valiant Cinematic Universe to life.

Valiant’s cinematic universe will officially begin in 2017 with a Bloodshot solo film directed by John Wick’s David Leitch and Chad Stahelski. A Harbinger film will hit after that, followed by a sequel for both franchises. The deal will then climax in a Bloodshot and Harbinger crossover film called Harbinger Wars.

Leitch and Stahelski will work off of a screenplay by Jeff Wadlow (Kick Ass 2) Eric Heisserer, while Matthew Vaughn and Jason Kothari will executive produce. And while Harbinger’s director is still a secret, Heisserer is confirmed as its sole screeenwriter. Valiant’s Chief Creative Officer, Dinesh Shamdasani, will produce all five films with Neal H. Moritz and Toby Jaffe from Original Films, and Andrea Gianetti from Sony.

Harbinger Wars takes its name from the 2013 Valiant mini-series, where Bloodshot, an amnesiac, nanite-enhanced soldier, clashes Harbinger’s cabal of super-powered teenagers and runaways.

Though Valiant has discussed movie plans since its re-launch in 2012, this is their largest cinematic development yet. The publisher announced last month that it had received a nine-figure investment from DMG Entertainment for its film and television endeavors. And while Bloodshot and Harbinger are one Valiant’s fast-track, Valiant is also developing films for their Archer & Armstrong and Shadowman titles.

Bloodshot hits theaters in 2017.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter.

Kevin Feige’s AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 Comments Show How Much He Loves Spidey!

WikiLeaks have published all of the “Sony Hack” emails, and one particularly interesting exchange contains Marvel Studios notes on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 from late 2013. “Andrew’s performance is all over the place…a lot of crying and then a lot of mania.” Read on for details.

The following notes come from an email dated November 19th, 2013 (you can see it here) and reveal some of Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige’s insights into what was wrong with The Amazing Spider-Man 2. They’re fairly tame recommendation/observations as Marvel obviously had no creative control over the movie at this time, and Sony clearly didn’t pay a great deal of attention – their loss – based on the final product anyway. There are some interesting reveals about some of the directions the sequel would have gone in too, including Aunt May finding out that Peter is Spidey in the same way as JMS’ comic book run. It’s a shame they cut that for whatever reason.

What’s abundantly clear here is that Feige just gets Spider-Man. Like every other Marvel character he’s brought to the big screen, the man just understands what makes them tick and the right way to bring them to life. Something else which was interesting is just how well Feige seems to get on with Amy Pascal. She clearly respects his opinions and was keen to hear more from him, so there really isn’t any need to be worried about her involement in Marvel’s Spider-Man. The new Spidey is going to be Feige’s baby 100%…if you’re not excited about the 2017 movie after this, you’re nuts!

There are too many story lines and we need to choose which ones we are focusing on and lift out the other ones, ie; could reduce father arc to just Roosevelt?

Could cut out plane crash and Richard destroying spiders and start on armored car – don’t start with Spider-Man….let the danger/stakes to NYC build first and then have Spider-Man enter the scene heroically.

Tone down Paul Giamatti performance, so he seems a bit more menacing and less cartoonish.

If you cut Richard from the opening and the plane crash maybe you could instead do Harry coming home and seeing Norman at the top of the movie as a cold open.

Really love Electro – feels like you may not need the scene in his apartment, which makes him seems completely crazy and hard to relate too.

Like the idea that eel goes in his mouth and instead of burrowing, you see it glow within him…

Need to set up the Power Plant earlier, visually.

Seems like the movie switches pov’s a lot…why are we in Max’s pov during the car chase, worth looking at this playing out from Spidey’s pov.

There could be a better way to reveal that Peter is missing graduation – maybe when you cut Gwen you cut to the wide shot?

Tiny note – don’t think Peter would lie to Gwen about sirens — maybe he just downplays it…

Stan Lee Cameo – maybe need a little more emphasis on Peter here trying to get out of his costume and not be in seen…set up a little more the pressure of the principal getting closer and closer to calling his name.

Instead of seeing the ghost of Captain Stacy, can just here the voice in Peter’s head and maybe flash back to the last movie?  Don’t think we should add Cap Stacy back into car chase.

There is too much back and forth with Peter and Gwen – can we recut the Dim Sum scene so that it doesn’t feel so repetitive of their break-up in the last movie – Can Peter be more honorable and definitive and less wishy-washy?

Why do we need a year to pass…

Harry story feels like the main plot of the movie – Peter should look into the past b/c of Harry – maybe find some photos of them together as kids…use obsession wall more to set up this part of his past not just what happened to parents.

Not sure what Peter learns at Roosevelt is entirely correct. We’re distracted by the idea that Peter became Spider-Man b/c of his father’s blood — all this special back story with his super-scientist dad fights with the idea that Peter is normal kid from Queens who becomes the greatest super-hero in the world…

Andrew’s performance is all over the place…a lot of crying and then a lot of mania. Hard to track him emotionally sometimes. It undermines his reaction to Gwen’s death b/c he gets upset and emotional a lot.

Don’t like the idea that May tells Peter his parents were spies b/c two seconds later he finds out they are not and it again fights with the idea that he’s an ordinary kid.

Like the idea that May finds out he’s Spider-Man – finds his costume instead of just the rosemary harris wink-wink all the time.

Kind of like the morgue, but hate the dancing mortician – cliché.

Are you using VFX to show how Electro is travelling from one point to another (bursts of electricity).

Need to underscore capture of goblin…more sirens as you linger on the clock 1;21, 1:22 am (nice touch).

Surveillance scene should be about following Harry not Peter…no one should be following Peter.

Can Electro hum Itsy-Bitsy Spider before he plays it electronically…maybe we can use this again.

Maybe intercut the ending montage and hearing Gwen’s speech with someone going into special projects and revealing more easter eggs and see that the rhino case has been broke into and the suit is missing…great way to transition to rhino ending.

Don’t need Aunt May in the kitchen.

Spider-man needs to feel more directly responsible for preventing the planes from crashing.

Don’t show New Yorkers looting.

Idris Elba Would Make A Great JAMES BOND Says Bond Producer

During a set visit for the latest James Bond film Spectre, Bond producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli were asked about the potential of Idris Elba replacing Daniel Craig as 007.

“I think he’d make a great Bond,” Wilson replied instantaneously.

“I always say, it’s like asking a woman who’s going up the aisle on her wedding day who her next husband is going to be,” Broccoli joked. “You know, Daniel Craig is Bond, and I don’t want to think about what happens when he goes. But I’m a huge fan of Idris — we all are. He’s a great actor, and he could do anything. So ask me when we’re looking for a new Bond — which hopefully won’t be for a long time.”

After Spectre, Craig is only signed on for one more Bond film. He is not being pushed out the door as producers say it is up to Craig if he wants to continue playing 007 beyond his current contract. “We want him for as long as he wants,” Wilson stated.

Source: IGN

Mexico Stills And Opening Sequence Description Released For SPECTRE

The upcoming James Bond film, Spectre, has been filming in Mexico over the past weeks and now a bunch of production stills have been released and a description of the opening sequence accompanied those stills. Check them out down below!

The film opens November 6th and also stars Ben Whishaw as Q, Naomie Harris as Moneypenny, Ralph Fiennes as M, Christoph Waltz as Oberhauser, Monica Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra, David Bautista as Mr. Hinx, Léa Seydoux as Madeleine Swann and Stephanie Sigman as Estrella.

Shortly after arriving on set we spoke to Heather Callow (the Spectre unit publicist) and she described the opening chase sequence they were filming in Mexico City. As you can read below, the sequence is absolutely loaded with action, has a helicopter and over a thousand extras (with tens of thousands of additional extras being added using CG in post-production).

Here’s what Callaw had to say:

This is the opening chase sequence of our film. It starts with Bond and Estrella, who are walking down this Day of the Dead parade. Estrella is played by Stephanie Sigman, who is a Mexican actress. They’re kind of weaving their way through this Day of the Dead parade, they make their way into a hotel—we’ve also shot here once before in The Living Daylights.

They’re going up to Estrella’s room, Estrella thinks she might be bringing Bond to bed but instead he’s looking out the view of her window. He sees two baddies across the way having a conversation, and he stops something really bad from happening, kills one of the guys, the other guy goes running, Bond jumps out of the window and there’s a bit of a chase, he causes a building to explode and they both end up—boom—on the ground, and the foot chase starts.

The baddie’s character is called Skiara, who’s played by Alessandro Cremona, he’s an Italian actor. What we’ve been shooting over the past couple of days is Bond chasing Skiara slowly making their way through the Day of the Dead parade. As the running Skiara is on his mobile phone he’s calling for backup, cue the helicopter coming down the street. Helicopter lands, it’s full of a couple of other baddies. Skiara jumps on, Bond follows, pulls off one of the baddies, Bond jumps on the helicopter, helicopter goes up, and they start to have this fight in the helicopter.

The helicopter is piloted by a guy called Chuck Aaron, who is a stunt pilot. He’s the only person who’s insured to do 360 flips in this helicopter in the world, so we’re doing a bit of the stunts here but kind of the bigger helicopter stuff is happening 10 hours outside the city at a lower altitude.

We’ve got 1500 extras here today. They all kind of file in at 4:30 in the morning to this big convention center. They have their hair and makeup done which takes anywhere from one and a half hours to two and a half hours.

Here’s the official synopsis for Spectre:


In SPECTRE, a cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.  Sam Mendes returns to direct SPECTRE, with Daniel Craig reprising his role as 007 for the fourth time. SPECTRE is produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, from a script by John Logan and Neal Purvis & Robert Wade.

Source: Collider

SPECTRE Teaser Trailer Released!

Sony Pictures has released the first official teaser trailer for the upcoming 007 James Bond film, SPECTRE.

SPECTRE sees Skyfall director Sam Mendes return for another globe-trotting adventure with 007. Directed by the Academy Award winning Sam Mendes (Skyfall, American Beauty), Spectre also stars Daniel Craig (Casino Royale, Munich), Ben Wishaw (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, I’m Not There), Naomie Harris (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, 28 Weeks Later), Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Invisible Woman), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained, Inglourious Basterds), Monica Bellucci (Irreversible, Malena), David Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Man with the Iron Fists), Léa Seydoux (Inglourious Basterds, Blue is the Warmest Color), Andrew Scott (Locke, “Sherlock”) and Rory Kinnear (Quantum of Solace, The Imitation Game).

A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE. Starring Ben Wishaw, Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Christoph Waltz, Monica Bellucci, David Bautista, Léa Seydoux, Andrew Scott, and Rory Kinnear, Spectre is set to be released later this year.

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SPECTRE TEASER TRAILER #007 #JamesBond #SPECTRE
SPECTRE TEASER TRAILER #007 #JamesBond #SPECTRE
Posted by Sean Murphy TV on Friday, 27 March 2015

 SPECTRE hits theaters and IMAX on November 6.