The Hulk Originally Could Have Turned To Dust In Avengers: Infinity War

The Hulk Originally Could Have Turned To Dust In Avengers: Infinity War

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been on a serious roll in Phase Three, as every new blockbuster has been met with critical and box office success. The last decade of filmmaking will come to a head when Avengers: Endgame arrives in a matter of days, picking up the narrative from the shocking ending of Infinity War. The Russo Brothers broke fans hearts by wiping out half of all life, as moviegoers watched countless fan favorite characters fade to dust.

I didn’t know until I saw the movie. For one take, I did disappear, and then the other one I didn’t.

Well, this is wild. Bruce Banner/Hulk has been in every Avengers movie, so it's hard to imagine Endgame without the big green guy. But it looks like that was on the table for a while, as The Russo Brothers had Mark Ruffalo film a dusting scene of his very own.

In the end, all of the OG Avengers managed to survive The Decimation, along with supporting characters like War Machine, Rocket, Okoye, and Nebula. But it turns out that Bruce Banner could have perished, as Mark Ruffalo filmed both endings for his character. Ruffalo recently revealed this, saying:

Mark Ruffalo's comments to Yahoo are sure to puzzle cinephiles, given how Infinity War and Endgame were filmed directly after each other. As such, Hulk's fate presumably was only a question for a limited time. Because The Russo Brothers had the scheduling nightmare of working out shooting for Endgame, and would need Ruffalo to clear up his schedule in order to play Banner/Hulk alongside the rest of the living heroes.

The ending of Avengers: Infinity War was truly devastating, as the fandom didn't expect Thanos to win and exterminate so many iconic characters. And it seems The Russo Brothers experimented a bit with who would be a victim of the snap, and fade to dust before our eyes. Instead of merely being phased into a rock in the Hulkbuster armor, Bruce Banner could have also faded to dust from within the suit. And with that ending, Hulk wouldn't have gotten another chance to face off against the Mad Titan.

Luckily, Bruce Banner survived the snap, and should have a meaty role alongside the rest of the survivors when Avengers: Endgame finally hits theaters. Fans are especially eager to see Hulk return to the screen, as he was largely absent in Infinity War after losing a fight in the film's opening scene. As a reminder, you can check out that scuffle below.

Merchandise from Avengers: Endgame hints at a rematch for these two powerful characters, so it's a good thing that Hulk wasn't dusted during The Snap. It's also poetic to see the original team reunited in the upcoming blockbuster, allowing The Russo Brothers to end the narrative that started back with Iron Man in 2007.

Answers will come when Avengers: Endgame arrives in theaters on April 26th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Robert Downey Jr. Shares Behind The Scenes Photo Of Avengers: Endgame With Spider-Man

Robert Downey Jr. Shares Behind The Scenes Photo Of Avengers: Endgame With Spider-Man

Among the most heartbreaking deaths in Avengers: Infinity War, and certainly the most meme’d, was Peter Parker's, who didn’t feel so good and faded to dust in Tony Stark’s arms. Given that, we are especially eager to see Peter Parker brought back to life and reunited with his mentor once more in Avengers: Endgame. While we wait for that emotional moment, Robert Downey Jr. has shard a behind the scenes look from the film of himself with Spider-Man. Take a look:

One of the best things about the MCU is the fun pairings of actors and their characters, and although Iron Man and Spider-Man is one of the newer ones, first coming in Captain America: Civil War, it is easily one of the most entertaining. We see their great dynamic here, as Tony Stark is attempting to be his normal snarky self with Robert Downey Jr. sarcastically saying how stoked he is to be in the photo.

But he can’t help but smirk next to his mentee, Tom Holland’s overly enthusiastic Peter Parker, who is genuinely stoked to be standing next to ‘Mr. Stark.’ The upside down internship certificate is a nice touch too. What a fantastic duo these two are and if Robert Downey Jr. leaves the Marvel Cinematic Universe after Avengers: Endgame, more of this pairing will be one of the top things we’ll have to lament.

This picture is a cool behind-the-scenes look at a shot from the most recent Avengers: Endgame trailer where Tony is holding a photo of himself and Peter Parker with the internship certificate. Every hero seems to have one person in particular who was snapped away that most affected them, and with Pepper alive, for Tony, that’s Peter Parker. You can the image of this scene from the teaser below:

This scene reminds us how Tony Stark at times attempted to use Spider-Man and provide some guidance to Peter Parker, while pretending not to care and not being overly affectionate towards the kid. But it’s clear now that Tony Stark does care about Peter Parker very much, and he’s the person he most wants to avenge and bring back. That makes their potential reunion all the more anticipated.

As Tony Stark hashtags in his Instagram post, the reunion of these two characters can heal the internet, which has spent the last year laughing through the pain at poor Peter Parker who didn’t want to go. To do that though, they’ll have to heal the divisions in the team and band together to topple Thanos for good.

Avengers: Endgame closes out The Infinity Saga when it opens on April 26. Check out our 2019 release schedule to keep track of all of this year’s biggest movies.

Whoa, What's With Brightburn's Huge Second Weekend Drop?

Whoa, What's With Brightburn's Huge Second Weekend Drop?

What happened to Brightburn? Not only did it get lost in the shuffle of Memorial Day weekend, it just fell more than almost any other movie in its second weekend.

Brightburn ended its three-day opening weekend with $7.8 million, which placed it fifth on last week's box office chart, almost a million dollars above Booksmart. Fast-forward to Week 2, and the situation is reversed. Booksmart got a boost of 13 theaters, which isn't much, but it put it at 2,518 theaters and gave it an estimated $3,328,648 for this weekend.

Brightburn, on the other hand, didn't gain or lose any theaters, it still has more than Booksmart at 2,607. But it only made an estimated $2,315,000, which is a drop of -70.5%.

That's big.

There are other films lower on the chart with slightly bigger box office drops, per Box Office Mojo, but those films also lost hundreds or even a thousand screens from last week to now. That's not the case for Brightburn. That drop put Brightburn's per-screen average at just $888, which is pretty low.

Compare that to the $11,934 per-screen average for this weekend's box office leader, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, or even the $1,322 per-screen average of Booksmart. A Dog's Journey has a lower per-screen average at $621, but it also just lost 1,605 screens after being out for three weeks.

Brightburn is a smaller movie, made for a reported production budget around $6 million. In addition to the $14.2 million it has made at the domestic box office so far -- from across this past week, including Memorial Day Monday -- it has also made $10.5 million so far at the foreign box office. The total as of today is $24,712,552.

So Brightburn isn't likely to lose any money, it's just not a good sign for any potential sequels that fans seem to have lost interest so quickly.

Brightburn got middle-of-the-road reviews from critics and a mostly positive RT Audience Score of 68% so far, but that's from only 3,091 users. It actually got a pretty lame C+ CinemaScore from moviegoers polled on opening night. Usually those scores tend to be high, but when people are disappointed, they can grade low.

Brightburn got a lot of attention because of Guardians of the Galaxy writer/director James Gunn, who is a producer of the film, which was written by his brother Brian Gunn and cousin Mark Gunn. David Yarovesky directed the movie. It also captured fans' imaginations that Brightburn took the Superman origin story and gave it a dark twist. Otherwise, Brightburn is just an indie horror film that found a small following but maybe not enough to continue this universe. We'll see.

Did you see Brightburn? If so, how would you grade it?

Bill Murray Is Down To Return For The New Ghostbusters Movie

Bill Murray Is Down To Return For The New Ghostbusters Movie

For a long time, the lack of interest from Bill Murray was one of the impediments to a continuation of the beloved Ghostbusters franchise actually happening, before the actor finally relented and had a cameo in the 2016 reboot of the property. But with a secretive new movie set in the continuity of the first two Ghostbusters films on the way, we are again left to wonder if Murray’s Dr. Peter Venkman will return. Addressing why he came back for the reboot, Bill Murray provided some hope on the matter when he said:

I was in that movie just because they asked me, and I knew if I said no, I was saying I didn’t support that movie. I felt like, OK, I’m going to support them because I support them as people. So I did that one and I would do this next one.

Bill Murray’s friendship with fellow SNL alums Kate McKinnon and Melissa McCarthy is what compelled him to finally return to the Ghostbusters franchise. He wanted to support his friends and the biggest support and vote of confidence he could give them was to be in the Ghostbusters reboot when he was asked. Yet, even though the new Ghostbusters movie will not feature those actors, Bill Murray is still down to return, as he told IndieWire at the Cannes Film Festival.

You hear that Jason Reitman? That’s the sound of legions of Ghostbusters fans telling you to pick up the phone and call Bill Murray. The actor broke the seal with his appearance in Paul Feig’s reboot and isn’t as staunchly against participating in the franchise as he once was. On the contrary, he seems quite open to the possibility of returning for the secretive continuation of the series from original Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman’s son Jason.

It’s an encouraging response because Bill Murray could have easily just said that he wasn’t interested or equivocated on the topic, but instead he said quite plainly that he would be willing to do the next Ghostbusters movie. Maybe all he needs is to be asked and to see a good script.

Despite Bill Murray’s aversion to working with Sony and in big Hollywood studio movies, likely contributors to his longstanding reticence to return, he still has great affection for the Ghostbusters franchise, as he explained:

This franchise paid for my son’s college. We made this thing. We are the caretakers of it. It’s a great thing and it was a really fun movie to make. It’s a real movie with some really funny stuff in it.

Bill Murray knows how important Ghostbusters was to his career and it’s something that he had a good time making. He also has an appreciation for the enduring nature of the franchise and how important it is to people. The actor also seems to feel some responsibility as a steward of the franchise to take care of it and perhaps that is part of why he has no problem returning for this new movie.

Bill Murray isn’t the only one of the original Ghostbusters willing to be a part of the 2020 film either. Although Harold Ramis sadly passed away in 2014, both Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson have expressed excitement about the new film and presumably a willingness to participate.

We’ll have to wait and see if any of the original Ghostbusters do return. If they do, they’ll be joined by the new actors who have already been cast, including McKenna Grace, Carrie Coon and hitting for a nostalgia trifecta, Stranger Things and IT actor Finn Wolfhard.

Plot details are nonexistent at this point, but this new, untitled Ghostbusters movie will be set in the same continuity as the original 80s movies. So here’s hoping that Bill Murray and the rest of the OG team return in some capacity for a movie that comes as close as possible to the untouchable original.

The untitled Ghostbusters movie hits theaters on July 10, 2020. For movies arriving just a bit sooner, check out our 2019 Release Schedule.

Aladdin Has Screened, See What People Are Saying

Aladdin Has Screened, See What People Are Saying

Disney's animated features are some of the most well loved movies ever made. Many of the recent live-action remakes, while not necessarily hitting that level, have been incredibly successful with fans. The second of three remakes hitting theaters this year is Aladdin and while the movie won't be released here for a couple more weeks, the film has screened for some audiences and the first reactions are now hitting social media.

Overall, the response has been largely positive, though there have been a few caveats in that. One of the big questions that had fans worried was the CGI that turned Will Smith into the big blue Genie. It didn't look all that great in the eyes of many and Digital Spy says that while overall Will Smith is great, the CGI doesn't work. Although, that might not be the worst part of the movie. According to them...

A lavish and enjoyable retelling, but not enough of A Whole New World to fully succeed. Mena Massoud/Naomi Scott are great, while Will Smith brings a fun energy to his take on the Genie, even if the CGI lets him down. The less said about Jafar, the better.

Since they don't say anymore, we don't really know what the issue with Jafar is, but clearly the feeling is he doesn't work in some way.

While Digital Spy isn't in love with Will Smith's CGI Genie, they're one of the few responses to the movie that really calls it out. Most of the reactions on social media are complementary of Smith overall. Joe.ie's Rory Cashin seems to agree that the CGI is a weak link, but he thinks that the movie is otherwise so strong that audiences won't care.

Can confirm that the majority of your concerns about Aladdin, especially anything Will Smith-related, will vanish once that first big song kicks in, but my pick for MVP has got to be Billy Magnussen! He might just be a comedy genius in waiting.

The word that Billy Magnussen is a highlight of the film is certainly interesting news. We know he's playing a brand new character named Prince Anders, but beyond that, we don't really know who the character is or how he fits into the story.

From everything that we've seen, this new version of Aladdin is going to follow all the same beats as the animated original. It's even a full musical, in the same way that the Beauty and the Beast remake was. If that film is any indication, Aladdin could be a massive hit.

If Andrew Jones is to be believed, that's even more possible, as he thinks Aladdin is actually one of the better remakes that Disney has produced, even if it is a little on the long side. According to Jones...

So Aladdin is Disney's second-best recent remake, after Pete's Dragon. Proudly a musical fantasy adventure, the jokes are strong, Smith's Genie is a lot of fun, the human leads work well. It's 20 minutes too long, but works a charm for the entire run.

The most stirring praise, however, may come from the BBC's Haroon Rashid, who compares Aladdin to a great Bollywood movie...

I just watched the new Aladdin movie and it is amazing! It was so good that I forgot my roza had opened. Also if Sanjay Leela Bhansali ever made a Disney film, it would be this! I felt like I was watching a cross between Ram Leela/Bajirao Mastani but without people dying.

The early word seems largely good, and a few hiccups in the CGI likely won't dissuade too many fans if everything else about Aladdin works. We'll find out for ourselves when the movie hits theaters May 24.

How Lashana Lynch Thinks Maria Would React To Her Daughter Becoming a Superhero

How Lashana Lynch Thinks Maria Would React To Her Daughter Becoming a Superhero

This article contains SPOILERS for Captain Marvel, so turn back if you haven’t yet blasted off with the high-flying hero in theaters yet.

The MCU’s latest movie, Captain Marvel, unveiled Carol Danvers' origin story and introduced quite a few other crucial comic book characters to screen, such as with Lashana Lynch and Akira Akbar as mother-daughter pair Maria and Monica Rambeau. As fans of the source material may know, Monica also has gone by “Photon," “Pulsar," “Spectrum” and, at one time, “Captain Marvel” – the leader of the Avengers.

During the Captain Marvel press junket in Los Angeles, I asked Lashana Lynch how she thinks her character might take Monica’s crime-fighting future, assuming that the MCU decides to embrace her story past Captain Marvel. Here’s what she said:

I think she’d be really cool. She in my eyes is a superhero anyway. She doesn’t have the usual superhero powers, but in being a fighter pilot, in being a mother and someone who represents a real woman in her society, she is almost like raising Monica to be a superhero anyway. I feel like when we see Monica in the future, we’re going to be like “Of course she turns out this way” because she brought her up well! She just had a good mother.

There you have it! In Lashana Lynch’s eyes, Maria’s daughter becoming “Photon” or the next Captain Marvel wouldn’t even phase her because it makes sense within Monica’s character arc. In the movie, Monica looks to be single-handedly raised by her fighter pilot mother, who may have “lost” her best friend for some time, but it didn’t stop her from raising her kid to be strong, disciplined and… well, like a hero.

In the few scenes we see Monica Rambeau, she’s definitely comes off as fearless, takes an interest to the circumstances of the film and seems to look up to her mother and Carol Danvers, along with being unafraid of the intergalactic stakes in front of her.

Following the previous answer, I asked Lashana if she thinks we might see Maria join in with Monica on the action, since her character fits right in as a superhero as well. In her words:

There’s a moment when Maria and Monica have to have a conversation about what’s going to happen next and Monica is the adult in the situation and is like ‘Mom, I’m going to take care of this, you go do your thing.’ So I feel like Maria would be like, ‘I trust you, you’re my daughter, I brought you up well, I’m going to let you live in your truth and do your own thing.’

There’s nothing like having a trusting mother, and per Lashana’s answer, she thinks once it comes time for Monica to suit up, Maria will step back and let her do her thing – even if she’s a badass fighter pilot who can totally kick some ass too!

If you’d like to take a look at the short discussion for yourself, you can watch a clip from the interview below:

Lashana Lynch certainly gives an empowering answer about her character being a superhero already and raising up her daughter touch and strong, so she can later trust her to potentially save the world. While it’s unclear if and how their storylines will expand in future MCU stories, Lynch certainly seems to enjoy playing with the idea.

With Monica being introduced as a kid in the ‘90s, the present-day timeline would see her as a 30-something-year-old woman who belongs among the other Avengers. What do you think? Would you like to see Monica Rambeau grow into her origin story on the big screen? Let us know in the comments below.

Shazam! Made More Money Than Aquaman In Preview Screenings

Shazam! Made More Money Than Aquaman In Preview Screenings

My man Aquaman has the highest-grossing DC film of all time. Shazam! is not expected to top it, or even come close, to be honest. But Zachary Levi's film is already defying expectations, with a preview screening pulling in bigger bucks than the DCEU's reigning king -- among other movies.

Shazam! played in 1,200 Fandango preview screenings Saturday night, making $3.3 million. That topped Aquaman's Atom/Amazon preview take of $2.9 million, and also the previews for How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World ($2.6 million), Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ($1.8 million), and Hotel Transylvania ($1.3 million).

Those figures are per Deadline, which noted that Shazam!'s preview box office take was spread pretty evenly throughout North America. Of course, that doesn't mean the movie will have a huge opening weekend at the domestic North American box office, or charm the international box office in the way that really boosted Aquaman over the top. But it's a promising start for a movie that's easy to root for.

Zachary Levi -- aka the kid-in-an-adult-superhero's body himself -- was on hand for one of Shazam!'s advance screenings. He thanked the fans, who were surely surprised and thrilled to see him:

The review embargo for Shazam! lifted last night, with critics flooding the internet with lengthy opinions. Most of the reviews have been very positive, and Shazam! currently has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 93% from 46 reviews.

Shazam! is apparently tracking for an opening weekend somewhere around $40-$50 million. But lately every top film has overperformed -- from Captain Marvel making more than expected in her opening weekend, to Jordan Peele's Us nearly doubling the predictions for his film.

Aquaman actually had a relatively slow start at the domestic box office, with the lowest opening of the DCEU. But it definitely made up for it over time, especially with help from the foreign box office, and the movie currently has a worldwide gross of $1,146,648,294. That's the best of the current DCEU, and also the best for any DC Comics movie.

So right now many lucky critics and fans have already seen Shazam! but the rest of us will have to wait another couple of weeks. The movie officially opens in theaters on Friday, April 5. Shazam! will show up right after Dumbo, about a month after Captain Marvel, and only a few weeks before Marvel's Avengers: Endgame. We are officially in the busy season, and it should continue through the summer. Keep up with everything headed to the big screen in 2019 with our handy movie schedule.

Sebastian Stan Says He Was Tricked By Avengers: Endgame's Fake Scripts

Sebastian Stan Says He Was Tricked By Avengers: Endgame's Fake Scripts

The following potentially contains spoilers for Avengers: Endgame**, but will not reveal specific information.**

For a major blockbuster tentpole movie like Avengers: Endgame, there's nothing worse than spoilers. If people know what happens in a movie they may be less inclined to go see it, and fans prefer to be surprised, and so those spoilers are guarded like nothing else. Marvel even goes so far as to create fake scripts to prevent the truth from leaking out, and it seems that Sebastian Stan got taken in by that.

The actor, who plays Bucky Barnes, The Winter Soldier, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, recently appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and he admitted that for one key scene that he was in, he was told the scene was something completely other than what it actually was. According to Stan...

I was told it was a wedding, that there was a wedding we were filming. And I was like, ‘Who’s getting married?’ But everybody was dressed very formal, and I was looking around, and then two people weren’t there. So I guess that was the bride and the groom.

If you've seen Avengers: Endgame, then you know exactly what Sebastian Stan is referring to here. If you haven't, then it only needs to be said the movie contains a scene where several MCU characters are dressed formally for an event. While Sebastian Stan was told his character was attending a wedding, that's not actually what's happening.

Sebastian Stan himself admits he thought the idea of a wedding seemed odd, he had no clue who would be getting married, but it seems it wasn't until later, possibly even the first time he saw the movie, that he realized that wasn't the case.

It shows to just what an extent Marvel Studios and the Russo Brothers were going to make sure everything in the film remained secret. Sebastian Stan doesn't have the reputation of a Tom Holland or a Mark Ruffalo. He's not known for giving away the game. And yet, he wasn't trusted with the truth of the scene. He wasn't even told the general information of the event that was actually taking place, nevermind the specifics.

One assumes that several other people in the same scene are standing there thinking they're at a wedding. It's one thing to not really know what you're doing when you're part of a major green screen CGI battle, but there are no digital effects at this moment. It's just a shot of people standing around, and yet the actors on screen are as clueless as to what the reality is as when they're fighting Thanos by looking at a tennis ball on a stick.

Check out Sebastian Stan's full comments on The Tonight Show in the clip below.

Of course, now that Sebastian Stan has seen the movie, he could spoil things, but he's being careful not to do so. The gloves may be coming off soon, however. The Russo Brothers say that after two weekends of a movie's release, spoilers become fair game, so if you still haven't seen Avengers: Endgame after this weekend, you may need to start being extra careful.

After Disney Acquisition, Fox Has Already Started Layoffs

After Disney Acquisition, Fox Has Already Started Layoffs

The merger between The Walt Disney Company and Fox was only completed after midnight on Wednesday morning, but the new owners have wasted no time in beginning to streamline the new company. A lot of layoffs were expected, and the first of them came to pass yesterday.

Many of the layoffs came at the top of the food chain. Chris Aronson, the president of Fox's domestic distribution was informed yesterday that he will not be moving forward with Disney, though he was apparently given 60 days notice. Fox's international distribution president was also given notice, as well as the president of worldwide marketing.

According to THR, many employees have not been officially let go yet, but they have been informed that they'll only be kept on for a transitional period, three to six months depending on the situation. Fox employees being let go are apparently being given two weeks of severance pay for every year they spent with the company, with a maximum pay out of two years salary. For those few that have spent decades working for Fox, and there will be those that have, they'll at least get a solid severance deal.

These layoffs were not necessarily unexpected. Disney and Fox were two companies in exactly the same business, which means there was a lot of overlap of job responsibilities between the two companies. Even with the addition of the various Fox divisions, the new company doesn't necessarily need twice as many people in areas like marketing or distribution.

One decision that has been a surprise, however, is the decision to completely shutter Fox 2000. The label was run by Elizabeth Gabler and was responsible for producing mid-budget dramas and comedies, including such popular movies as Love, Simon, Hidden Figures, and The Devil Wears Prada. It had been believed that Gabler and Fox 2000 would be folded into the new company and remain largely unaltered, so the news from Deadline that the label is being shut down has come as a shock to many.

While the layoffs were certainly expected, Disney has been, and is apparently remaining, tight lipped about what the exact plan is for the future. THR reports that some employees on both sides of the new merger are now very cautious because none of them know how secure their positions are. It's one thing to know that layoffs are going to happen, but not knowing how they will happen makes everybody nervous.

The total number of layoffs are expected to be in the thousands before things settle down, so this is clearly only the beginning. And of course, because of the merger itself, job prospects for those that find themselves without work will have that much more trouble finding a new job. If you're looking to find work with a major movie studio, there are now fewer of them around that are hiring.

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Will Feature Yoda, Other Surprising Returning Personalities

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Will Feature Yoda, Other Surprising Returning Personalities

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge promises to open up a new corner of the Star Wars universe. It creates an outpost on a planet at the edge of wild space where guests will be able to interact with new characters, eat new food, and experience all new attractions. However, it wouldn't be Star Wars if the new land didn't also include those elements of the franchise that we're familiar with. At the recent Star Wars Celebration it was revealed that several classic characters will appear in the new land, including Jedi Master Yoda.

Of course, since the time period for the new Galaxy's Edge land is set in the era of the new trilogy, don't expect to actually see Yoda anyplace in the new land, except possibly as merchandise. Yoda has been long dead by the point in which this part of the story is taking place. However Chris Beatty, the Executive Creative Director at Walt Disney Imagineering did reveal that Yoda would be heard someplace in the new land, and that Yoda's voice was being provided by Frank Oz, the voice of Yoda throughout all of the films.

Exactly how the voice would be heard wasn't revealed. It could be part of one of the E-ticket attractions inside the new land, though neither of them strikes me as particularly Jedi enough to make Yoda make sense there. Perhaps Yoda will help guide you as you build your own custom lightsaber, which will be something you'll be able to schedule for yourself in one of the Black Spire Outpost shops.

However, Yoda isn't the only classic voice who will be returning for Galaxy's Edge. Fans of the original Star Tours will remember the pilot, named R3x, who was voiced by Paul Reubens. While the current version of the attraction doesn't have R3x flying, Galaxy's Edge will have the character back, as a DJ at Oga's Cantina.  Margaret Kerrison, Story Editor at Walt Disney Imagineering says the new R3x is going to be a lot of fun...

We worked with so many incredible voice-over actors. One of the ones that we definitely wanted to bring back was Paul Reubens. We were super excited to bring him back and nobody was more excited than Paul. He was really great to work with. He really, really was. He brought in a lot of inspiration and new lines for us. Let’s just say you will be thoroughly entertained in Oga’s Cantina.

Reubens apparently recorded a lot of new dialogue for his new role, where he'll be playing a lot of brand new music written specifically for the land. Some of that music is being attributed to the band Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes, which is the group more widely known as the "Cantina Band" from Star Wars: A New Hope. Take a listen to some of it below.

One more classic Star Wars character who will be seen at Black Spire Outpost is the alien Nien Nunb. First seen as Lando Calrissian's co-pilot during the attack on the second Death Star in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Nien Nunb was seen as an X-Wing pilot in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and he's also a background character in Star Wars: The Last Jedi who survives until the evacuation on Crait.

Nien Nunb will also appear in Galaxy's Edge in some capacity, and he will be voiced by the same man who gave him a voice back in Return of the Jedi, even though, according to Galaxy's Edge project lead Scott Trowbridge, making that happen was a little bit tougher this time around...

I love this story because Nien Nunb, when he was voiced in his original appearance, was voiced by a young man who was a student in the bay area at the time. Actually, was from Kenya. He spoke a unique dialect and had a unique sounding voice. But then, time passed and the gentleman, whose name is Kipsang, went back to Africa. We kind of lost track of him. But when we decided we were going to bring Nien Nunb back for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, we actually went to Kenya, tracked him down, to record the original voice actor for Nien Nunb to play in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge because that’s the kind of thing you want us to do.

All of these characters get added to the list of Star Wars characters we already knew would be appearing. All of the main heroes and villains of the current trilogy will also appear on Batuu. We'll see Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, and even Kylo Ren as part of the Rise of the Resistance attraction. Fans of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Rebels animated series will meet an incredibly life like animatronic of Hondo Ohnaka

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge will also see new music written for it created by John Williams, the man who has written nearly every note of music for the galaxy far, far away. It won't simply be ambient music throughout the land, as that would potentially break the illusion that you actually standing on an alien world. I'm sure, however, that Disneyland and Walt Disney World have found plenty of other ways to include the music.

Whatever your level of love for Star Wars, there's going to be so much going on in Galaxy's Edge that you're going to find something that strikes a chord. Disney never gives the entire game away and with all this announced only slightly over a month before the new land opens, there's almost certainly more to see and hear that we don't know about yet.

We'll find out when Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opens at Disneyland on May 31 and at Walt Disney World August 29. If you want to guarantee yourself access to the new land, you'll need to book a Disneyland Resort hotel stay during the land's first three weeks, as that will get you a no-cost reservation to enter Black Spire Outpost.

Sean Gunn Is Determined To Make Guardians Vol. 3, Even Without James Gunn

Sean Gunn Is Determined To Make Guardians Vol. 3, Even Without James Gunn

The future of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 is still very much in question. While Marvel seems dedicated to making the movie happen, the film is still on hold and with no apparent movement forward with no director attached. However, at least one person seems quite focused no making sure Guardians Vol. 3 does happen. Sean Gunn, the brother of the film's previously attached director James Gunn, says that, one way or another, the movie needs to happen. According to Gunn...

I don’t know exactly how that’s all gonna work. But I feel like we are going to make the third movie, I’m excited to make it, I think it’s a disservice to the fans if we didn’t make it and I know the people who worked on the Guardians movies are really a family, and we’re gonna come together and make the best movie we can regardless of who’s in charge.

While Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was supposed to be the first of Marvel's Phase Four productions, hitting screens in May of 2020, all of that was thrown into chaos when James Gunn was unceremoniously removed as director of the film following the revelation of social media posts he had made years ago.

At the time, it wasn't clear if the movie would ever actually happen or if the already completed script James Gunn had written would be used. Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige has since conformed that the plan is still to make the movie, and to use Gunn's script, but the project has yet to find a new director.

Sean Gunn has been an unequivocal supporter of his brother from the beginning, but he's also been a supporter of the film franchise as well. He wants to make this movie and finish the trilogy, He tells Variety that he truly believes that things will work out and the movie will get made, though he admits he has no idea exactly how that will happen.

While a social media campaign by fans and even an open letter written by the cast in support of James Gunn came in the wake of Disney's decision, the studio has not altered its stance on the situation at all. James Gunn has since moved over to the other side of the fence, writing the script for the Suicide Squad sequel with every expectation that he will direct it as well.

Certainly, many fans likely want to be as optimistic about the future of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise as Sean Gunn is. While the movie will clearly be something a little different without James Gunn in the director's chair, the fact that it will at least tell the story he wrote may be enough. Of course, the movie has to actually get made first, and we're still waiting for movement in that regard.

6 Most Powerful Moments From The New Avengers Endgame Trailer

6 Most Powerful Moments From The New Avengers Endgame Trailer

Another trailer for Avengers: Endgame has arrived out of nowhere, and it's loaded with some footage fans are just now seeing for the first time. While some of it was a bit spoilery (but not really if you've been following the news cycle), it was okay because there were some really powerful moments throughout. These moments really set the tone for how epic the Phase 3 capper will be, and somehow, elevate the already high expectations of fans. Let's go over what was shown.

Black Widow Comforting Hawkeye/Ronin

Clint Barton was absent in Avengers: Infinity War and seemed to be enjoying his life out in the country with his family. Clint is seen showing his daughter archery, and then we wipe to him looking broken and sad in some Asian country in the present. He's hurting, and it's not just evident on his face, it's evident on Black Widow's as well. Natasha sees her longtime S.H.I.E.L.D. comrade is hurting,and holds his hand.

It's that kind of pure moment between them that gives a subtle reminder that these people are more than heroes. They're friends, and they've been brought even closer by this devastating event that surely has all of them hurting. It's a safe assumption there will be a lot of that type of camaraderie as the movie continues, as each Avenger bonds and fights their hardest to honor the ones they've lost.

Thor Charging Up

Thor missed his chance to defeat Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, and that mistake resulted in half of the universe being wiped out. Thor probably recognizes that, but he doesn't look to be sulking in this trailer. Far from it actually, as he's looking like a man on a mission as he's gathering lightning either to charge up for some attack or to power some device.

Thor looks at Stormbreaker shortly after this scene, which could mean a couple things. It could be used for some crazy lightning attack, or perhaps that's his way of teleporting between locations. Chances are fast travel will be a necessity during this high-risk mission, and he's one of the few people capable of it besides Captain Marvel. If someone needs to get somewhere fast, expect him to provide transport.

Nebula Charging Into Battle

Nebula had about the worst time of anyone in Avengers: Infinity War, at least among those who are still living in Avengers: Endgame. Now, she's reconstructed, off that ship she was stranded on with Tony and ready to help the Avengers in their fight against Thanos. Whoever she's running towards in this trailer is surely in for a bad time because she looks pissed.

It's a type of rage I'd like to think she's reserving for her father, regardless of his current power status. Thanos admitted to Gamora in the previous movie that Nebula very nearly killed him, which is surprising given those who've have failed before. Perhaps she knows something the rest of the team doesn't and will attempt to exploit that weakness again in a rematch? Provided she gets one, of course, because it's very possible this war charge is directed towards someone else.

Cap's Grimace

Captain America looks mostly composed throughout the Avengers: Endgame trailer, all except one scene in which he's seen strapping into his old shield. Cap tightens the strap and seems to react with a rather painful grimace which signifies he's in some pain. The trailer makes it appear it's related to the arm, which could be broken. Had he put that shield on a bit sooner, that may not have happened!

If there's a positive to this scene, it appears as though someone scooped up Steve's shield after he dramatically dropped it to the ground following Captain America: Civil War. My personal hope is that Tony saved it, hoping to return it to his friend after telling him he didn't deserve to carry the shield. Hopefully these two manage to get on better terms before the action really kicks off, and we get a heartwarming moment peppered in between the ass-kicking.

Rhodey And Rocket

Well, here are two characters no one really expected to team up. It's not that there's any reason to think Rocket Raccoon and War Machine wouldn't make a great dynamic duo, but like, how did this come about? If I had to guess, Rocket's probably drawn to Rhodey's impressive weapons array on the suit, and may even have a few upgrade suggestions he could provide for him.

Another thing worth mentioning here is that Rocket is wearing the same outfit he's usually seen with in the comics. That doesn't really make this moment anymore powerful, but the fact he has a look on his face that makes it look like they're about to rain hell on somebody definitely does. Hopefully these two wreak havok on whoever they're targeting and we get three spinoff films after this titled Rhodey and Rocket.

The Team Walk

We've seen edited and different iterations of The Avengers' team walk in previous Endgame trailers, but this was the first time we witnessed the scene in this way. Everyone's rocking new suits, they look determined and have that cool swagger that only really comes through in slow motion. Who can look at this scene and say anything other than "Hell yeah" after watching?

It gets even better, as it's entirely possible this isn't the final version of the Avengers: Endgame scene. It seems very likely at this point that Marvel is intentionally excluding one more character from the epic walkthrough,, although I'm thinking Hulk or Okoye are reasonable candidates. We'll keep those looking to avoid spoilers free from exactly who that may be, but suffice to say it's going to elevate that scene just a bit more. Now if we just knew where they were walking to!

The mystery behind all these questions will soon be revealed as Avengers: Endgame is due out in theaters April 26. CinemaBlend is the place for movie lovers to be before and after its premiere, as well have plenty of reactions, news, and analysis following the movie. For more on the MCU, check out our breakdown of the places the Tesseract has been since this all kicked off.

John Boyega Doesn’t Think He’ll Play Finn Again After The Rise Of Skywalker

John Boyega Doesn’t Think He’ll Play Finn Again After The Rise Of Skywalker

The Star Wars franchise has been rolling out new and exciting content over the past few years, thanks to Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm. There's been standalone films and the upcoming Mandalorian TV series, although all eyes are still on the main franchise. The sequel trilogy and Skywalker Saga will come to an end with J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which is set to arrive in theaters this holiday season.

The generations of Star Wars fans are eager to see how J.J. Abrams wraps up so many stories, including the decades-long narrative that began with George Lucas' A New Hope. Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy has teased that the characters from the sequel trilogy may pop up in the myriad developing future movies, but John Boyega doesn't seem to agree. When asked about reprising Finn in a future installment he said:

Honestly, the bottom of my heart, I don’t think I am. I don’t think I am. I really do feel that way. This really is that movie, I think everyone doesn’t believe it, but this is that war that just ends everything.

Well, that seems pretty cut and dry. While other sequel characters may appear in the movies being developed by Lucasfilm, we should count Finn out. John Boyega things The Rise of Skywalker is the perfect final for his Stormtrooper turned Rebel.

John Boyega's comments to MTV News should illicit a mixed bag of emotions from the Star Wars fandom. One one hand, moviegoers may be disappointed to see that The Rise of Skywalker will be our last outing with Finn. He's one of the trio of new protagonists, and we've seen his journey toward the light side of The Force. And now that he's a full fledged Resistance Leader, fans might want more time with him.

Related: 12 Exciting Shots From The Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Trailer

Then again, John Boyega's feelings may speak very highly for the quality of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. There is a ton of pressure for J.J Abrams to deliver with the threequel, and meet all the film's expectations. The blockbuster must complete the story he started with The Force Awakens, and reveal the fates of the new heroes and Adam Driver's constantly conflicted Kylo Ren.

But The Rise of Skywalker is also the last film in a nine-movie narrative begun by George Lucas back in 1977. J.J. Abrams will have to give General Leia a proper sendoff, through unused footage of Carrie Fisher from the previous films. Mark Hamill is also in the cast, and the first trailer revealed that even Palpatine will factor into the story.

With all of those balls in the air, its going to take some serious filmmaking to satisfy the fans. But if John Boyega things The Rise of Skywalker is a fitting end to Finn, then perhaps the fandom can rest easy, and make it until December.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will arrive in theaters on December 20th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Thank God, James Gunn Is Finally Going To Give Idris Elba Enough To Do In A Superhero Movie

Thank God, James Gunn Is Finally Going To Give Idris Elba Enough To Do In A Superhero Movie

It's no secret that superhero movies are everywhere, as multiple studios compete for box office supremacy and fan adoration. As such, there's been quite a few actors who have appeared in multiple shared universes, including Josh Brolin, Peter Dinklage, Zachary Levi, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. Now that's been expanded to Thor actor Idris Elba, who is replacing Will Smith as Deadshot in The Suicide Squad.

DC fans are eager to see what James Gunn will bring to the titular team of villains, especially after the first Suicide Squad movie left something to be desired critically. Gunn will reportedly making changes to the lineup of the Squad, and he's already recast one major character. Idris Elba will be taking on the role of Deadshot from Will Smith, which should fans of both comic book movies and Elba very happy. After all, he was never really given enough to do in the Thor franchise.

Idris Elba played Asgardian Heimdall during the Thor trilogy, but the Golden Globe winning actor never got much of a chance to shine. Like other Thor supporting characters like the Warrior's Three, Heimdall functioned mostly in the background of the franchise. Elba did get a quick scene in Avengers: Infinity War, before Heimdall was killed by Thanos. So his role as Deadshot in The Suicide Squad will be a game changer for the British actor within the superhero genre. And I'm into it.

Meanwhile, Will Smith's Deadshot was one of the stars of David Ayer's Suicide Squad, with he and Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn carrying the heart and soul of the ensemble project. His hatred toward Batman was fleshed out, and he had relatable motivations as a father. As such, Idris Elba is poised to have a significant role in James Gunn's follow-up. And it's about time. Elba's star power has grown quite a bit since he was cast as Heimdall in Thor, with the 46 year-old actor at the top of fan lists to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond, and even earning the title of Sexiest Man Alive. Now that his character has officially bitten the dust in Infinity War, he should be free play the sharp shooting Deadshot.

In fact, that's exactly what his Thor co-star Zachary Levi did after being (unceremoniously) killed off in Ragnarok. He was able to land the title role in Shazam!, and Idris Elba is following suit. Elba has been leading movies for years now, so he's more than ready to shine in an ensemble project like The Suicide Squad. And if he does well enough, a spinoff doesn't seem out of question. Just look at the upcoming Aquaman spinoff The Trench. And this time, he'll play a more insidious character than Heimdall. Deadshot loves killing, and he's good at it. Luckily, Ellba is already flexing his villain muscles in Hobbs & Shaw.

Attempting to recast Will Smith is no easy task, as he's a megastar that has huge following and a long career as a leading man. Idris Elba's career trajectory has been on a serious roll, and he's a solid choice to take on the mantle of Deadshot. Add in his experience in the genre, and James Gunn's vision crafting the narrative, and you've got a superhero duo that fans can get behind. Audiences are eager to see how Gunn will rework the burgeoning franchise, and bring his unique perspective to Marvel's competitor. And Gunn knows how good of an actor he has in Idris Elba.

Idris Elba had a whopping five appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Heimdall still failed to become a truly complex character. Heimdall served as the guardian of the Bifrost Bridge, which allows instant travel between the Nine Realms. While sworn to obey the orders of Anthony Hopkins' Odin, Heimdall was shown to rebel for the greater good during all three of his Thor roles. But he mostly operated on his own plane, serving as a tertiary presence, despite the character's outstanding abilities and having the great Idris Elba underneath his helmet.

Heimdall also popped up briefly in Avengers: Age of Ultron, when Scarlet Witch gave the Avengers visions of their past, and future(s). Heimdall teased the end of Asgard, which eventually came to fruition during the events of Ragnarok. He was also shown in the opening sequence of Avengers: Infinity War, and succeeded in teleporting Hulk back to Earth before being murdered by Thanos himself. Heimdall and Loki's murders were the primary motivation for Thor to get ahold of Stormbreaker and kill the Mad Titan in revenge.

But Idris Elba won't be kept in the sidelines for The Suicide Squad, as Deadshot will likely be one of the main protagonists of James Gunn's highly anticipated DC blockbuster. Deadshot's plot in David Ayer's first movie was mostly focused his anger and hatred toward Ben Affleck's Batman, after he was arrested in front of his daughter's eyes by the Dark Knight.

Now that Ben Affleck has hung up the cowl and cape for good, it should be fascinating to see how that dynamic is handled with The Suicide Squad. Will Batman be killed off in the shared universe? That would certainly be an interesting way to continue Deadshot's story, especially if the villain wasn't the one to end The Bat once and for all. The possibilities are truly endless, as cast shakeups put a ton of balls in the air for James Gunn to navigate during his blockbuster.

As a whole, Warner Bros. has been making a ton of strides on the DC live-action universe, with a handful of exciting projects coming down the pipeline. The universe is also still riding the wave of Aquaman's massive success, with a spinoff and sequel currently in the works. And while diving deeper into Arthur Curry's world, The Suicide Squad joins a group of upcoming blockbusters on the surface, including Birds of Prey, Joker, The Batman, and Wonder Woman 1984.

Are you excited about Idris Elba playing Deadshot in The Suicide Squad? Let us know in our poll below. James Gunn's DC debut is currently set to arrive in theaters on August 6th, 2021. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

There Are Two Things Keanu Reeves Really Wanted In John Wick 3

There Are Two Things Keanu Reeves Really Wanted In John Wick 3

After the first two action smorgasbord John Wick movies, its almost hard to know how John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum ups the ante even further and gives Baba Yaga something new to do beyond just adding to his body count. Fortunately, Keanu Reeves had some ideas, and there were two things that the actor really wanted to see in the third film. As he explained:

I wanted John Wick in desert, passing a dune. Saudi Arabia. Lawrence of Arabia, in a suit John Wick. ... And I wanted John Wick on a horse.

John Wick of Arabia? Keanu Reeves seemingly wanted to put his character in situations that we haven’t seen him in before, ones that are foreign to him and the audience. As Keanu Reeves told Collider, he wanted to put the hitman in the desert like Lawrence of Arabia and separately, have him ride a horse. As we’ve seen in the trailers for John Wick 3, Keanu Reeves got his wish on both accounts.

In the trailers, we see John Wick in the desert, traversing a dune in a suit. He looks completely out of his element and out of the context we are used to seeing him in. Keanu Reeves wants John Wick to suffer, and not being appropriately dressed in the desert looks pretty miserable. That said, John Wick does still look cool in his suit and maybe he’ll meet up with the new Men in Black who will also be going to the desert in Men in Black: International.

John Wick on a horse is also quite the sight because we are used to seeing the assassin on foot or in a car, so to see the ultimate badass riding a horse through the city like a knight of old is pretty cool. Keanu Reeves also elaborated a bit on these elements and the broadening of the world of John Wick. He said:

I thought it would be cool if John Wick escaped on a horse, so we got John Wick riding some horses, fighting with some horses. That was fun. I thought would be cool if John Wick was in a suit in a desert, somehow. So, we’re going to go some desert. We got some cool story there that is opening up the world. We’re really fans of the world. I love the character, so I was like, "How do we get John Wick on a dune?" We came up with an idea – we’re opening up the idea of the High Table, the world—the levels, architecture. If 1 and 2 were The Continental, and we kind of started to hear about the High Table, and now we’re going deeper into the High Table.

Normally you might think that bending the story so that you could do something that looks cool would be ill advised, but the John Wick franchise is all about doing badass stuff that looks cool and, in this instance, these elements are opening up the world of the film. John Wick: Chapter 2 moved the franchise international and John Wick 3 looks as though it will have even more globetrotting.

It sounds like part of what takes Baba Yaga to the desert is the deepening mythology of the series that will happen in this film. The existence of The Continental was what first showed us that John Wick wasn’t just a normal revenge tale or hitman movie, it had a mythology to it. In John Wick: Chapter 2 we began to see that there was an organization that seemed to govern these international establishments and set the rules for the assassins, The High Table.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is set to take us further into The High Table and show us more about how this underground world of assassins works, and that should give fans plenty to be excited for -- in addition to seeing John Wick do battle on horseback, trek through the desert, and swordfight with ninjas on motorcycles.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum gallops into theaters on May 17. Check out our 2019 release schedule to keep track of this year’s biggest movies, and for all your movie news stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

Hobbs & Shaw’s Dwayne Johnson Reveals What The Goal Was With Creating A Fast And Furious Spinoff

Hobbs & Shaw’s Dwayne Johnson Reveals What The Goal Was With Creating A Fast And Furious Spinoff

Since 2001, there have been eight Fast and Furious movies which have collectively grossed over $5 billion at the box office, thus becoming Universal’s most flourishing franchise to date. So when the series decided to branch out with its first ever spinoff Hobbs and Shaw starring heavy-weight action stars Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham coming this summer, the upcoming bags of cash coming the movie’s way isn’t tough to predict.

On Wednesday, Hobbs and Shaw came out to CinemaCon in Las Vegas to boast some new badass footage and brought together the pair of stars sharing the spotlight in the Fast and Furious spinoff. Dwayne Johnson said this about why this spinoff was decided upon:

Our goal here with the [spinoff] was to build out the Fast and Furious franchise, we wanted to create something that was special. We wanted to create something that had our own tapestry, our own feel, our own energy. But the bottom line was we wanted to make something that is fun. And when I say fun, like Fast and Furious movies are fun and this is FUN. We reached the top level of fun with the Fast and Furious movies. I’m talking about fun, good amen. That’s what we wanted to do.

A little fun never hurt a summer blockbuster, and Hobbs and Shaw looks like it has a ton of it. The upcoming spinoff plays off the scene-stealing chemistry Johnson’s Luke Hobbs and Statham’s Deckard Shaw, showed off in the Fast and Furious films. The unlikely pair team up this time around to take down a genetically-engineered superpowered and flamethrower-wielding villain named Brixton, played by Idris Elba.

Hobbs and Shaw seems to let go of the reality that once grounded in the Fast and Furious franchise, as the franchise has gone for bigger visual spectacles and stunts for fans to be in awe of. Elba’s superpowers mark a big chang, and so is a marketed scene that has Hobbs scaling down a skyscraper as Shaw sleekly goes down an elevator at the same time. So, Johnson’s emphasis on “FUN” doesn’t sound far off … the franchise is going bonkers in the best way and fans are going to eat it up.

The upcoming blockbuster isn’t the last of planned Fast and Furious spinoffs either. There is a female-led spinoff also in the works including a couple of the writers of Captain Marvel onboard, out of three overall planned spinoffs promised to Universal. Fast and the Furious 9 & 10 are also in the works for 2020 and 2021.

With Fast and Furious spinoffs on the way in addition to the main franchise, will audiences get franchise fatigue? Hobbs and Shaw certainly seems to be shaking up the series with a fresh take and not taking itself too seriously. The movie hits theaters on August 2, 2019.

Avengers: Endgame's Chinese Opening Looks Massive

Avengers: Endgame's Chinese Opening Looks Massive

With pre-sales records broken and theaters planning round-the-clock showings, it looks likely that Avengers: Endgame will have an unprecedented debut at the domestic box office opening weekend. But while domestic audiences still have a day to go until the first preview showings begin, audiences in China, the world’s second-biggest film market, got to experience it a little earlier. Avengers: Endgame has begun its run in The Middle Kingdom and it already looks to be headed towards a massive opening.

Avengers: Endgame opened on Wednesday in China and in its first day in release it smashed the single-day record for the market with a huge $107.2 million. That easily eclipses the previous single-day record holder in the country, the local blockbuster Monster Hunt, which earned $85 million in its opening last year. It is also the best single-day opening for a Hollywood film in the country, racing past The Fate of the Furious’s $69 million.

Avengers: Endgame’s single-day record includes the record $28.2 million the movie earned from midnight preview screenings according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Avengers completely dominated Chinese cinema screens on opening day, with 99% of all movie tickets sold on Wednesday being for the 3-hour MCU epic. To satisfy demand, many of the country’s multiplexes had Endgame playing on every screen and showings were starting every 15 to 30 minutes.

This incredibly fast start portends a ridiculous opening weekend in China for Avengers: Endgame. Prior to its release, the tracking had the Russo Brothers’ film landing at around $270 million for the five-day, Wednesday-Sunday opening. Now some of those prognosticators are amending those predictions with a belief that the film could go as high as $300 million over the five-day opening.

To date, no imported film has ever cracked $500 million in China, but Avengers: Endgame could change that. Hollywood’s biggest box office hit in the country is currently 2017’s The Fate of the Furious, which finished its run with $392.8 million (Avengers: Infinity War made $359.5 million in China). Dom and the family may not hold that record for long though as Chinese online ticketing company Maoyan is projecting a $521 million run for Endgame when it’s all said and done.

We’ve seen in recent years how Hollywood blockbusters and the films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe perform well in China, and how the country’s box office buoys their worldwide totals. So it is not a surprise that Avengers: Endgame is doing well there, but it seems to be outperforming expectations.

Part of that is likely due to the positive reception the film has received. Here in the U.S., Avengers: Endgame is receiving stellar reviews and boasts a fantastic score on Rotten Tomatoes and those in China are echoing that positive reception. The film is enjoying great word of mouth and has a 9.3/10 score on the aforementioned Maoyan’s ticketing app and the more hard to please site Douban, Endgame sits at a 9.2 out of 10.

All these signs point towards Avengers: Endgame doing extremely well, perhaps historically so, over the course of its run. Combined with what is sure to be a huge domestic opening and the Avengers are going out with a serious bang.

Avengers: Endgame opens in domestic theaters this weekend. We’ll keep you updated as previous box office records get snapped to dust and check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see all the movies headed your way as we enter the summer blockbuster season.

Glass’ Poor Reviews Made M. Night Shyamalan Cry

Glass’ Poor Reviews Made M. Night Shyamalan Cry

It’s never easy to learn that something you’ve made isn’t liked by others. Director and writer M. Night Shyamalan has experienced this several times in his career, most recently with Glass, the final chapter of his Eastrail 177 trilogy that began with Unbreakable and continued with Split. In fact, Shyamalan cried upon learning that Glass was taking a critical beating back in January. As he recalled:

I was in London when I heard the U.S. reviews for Glass were poor. I was in a makeup chair for a TV show, and I cried… We’d just come back from the London screenings, which were through the roof. We had only great screenings of the movie around the world. So essentially I wasn’t prepared. I had this false sense of being a part of the group in a safe way. But boy, did I feel distraught that day.

For nearly two decades Unbreakable was a standalone feature in M. Night Shyamalan’s filmography, but the filmmaker finally revisited that world with Split, which, in typical Shaymalan twist fashion, had Bruce Willis’ David Dunn appear at the end. Like Unbreakable, Split was met with positive reception, so shortly after its release, Shyamalan announced he’d be making Glass next. The hype surrounding Glass only grew over the next two years (give or take), especially after the first trailer dropped last summer.

Unfortunately for M. Night Shyamalan, Glass didn’t receive anywhere near the same level of approval as its predecessors, ranking at 37% among critics on Rotten Tomatoes. In other words, it wasn’t a flop across the board (as The Last Airbender and After Earth basically were), but it wasn’t a critical triumph either.

Hearing that Glass wasn’t being well-received was enough to make M. Night Shyamalan shed some tears while he was promoting the movie across the pond, but he felt better once he accounted for how commercially successful it was. Elaborating on how he felt at the time during a recent lecture at NYU’s Stern School of Business (via Indiewire), Shyamalan said:

Honestly, I was feeling like, ‘Will they never let me be different without throwing me on the garbage pile?’ The feeling of worthlessness rushed me, and to be honest, it doesn’t ever really leave. But anyway, the film went on, right? It became number one in every country in the world, and it represents my beliefs.

Glass ended up making nearly $247 million worldwide off a $20 million budget, so on the money side of things, it definitely performed splendidly, although it still ended up falling short of Unbreakable and Split’s hauls. In any case, M. Night Shyamalan appears to have made peace with how things turned out on Glass, though he still acknowledged that he still gets “tired” dealing with this kind of critical reaction to his work.

M. Night Shyamalan is now working on his upcoming Apple series Servant and also has a movie called Labor of Love in development. When more details become available on either of those projects, we here at CinemaBlend will let you know about them. Glass can be purchased Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD, and you can look through our 2019 release schedule to learn what movies are coming out later this year.

Spider-Man: Far From Home Director Has A Hilarious Explanation For Peter's Stealth Suit

Spider-Man: Far From Home Director Has A Hilarious Explanation For Peter's Stealth Suit

One of the things revealed in the first trailer for this summer’s Spider-Man: Far From Home is that everybody’s favorite Web-Slinger will be getting some new duds for his European vacation. But instead of getting the hottest and flashiest fashions from Parisian runways, Spidey will be getting a practical and understated black stealth suit. The film’s director Jon Watts, has a hilarious explanation for the stealth suit, saying:

It kind of looks like Black Widow, maybe it was one of her suits and they just tailored it.

Man, from a custom Stark suit with built-in A.I. and the Iron Spider suit, both of which likely cost millions, to one of Black Widow’s hand-me-downs; the youngest Avenger needs to file a complaint with Avengers HR or something because his contributions warrant him at least getting his own custom suit. Maybe they’re trying to come in under budget on the fiscal year and Black Widow had a spare suit just lying around they could repurpose cheaply.

Not that there is anything wrong with Black Widow’s suits; she is a literal spy and the stealthiest of the Avengers, so if it’s good enough for her, it's certainly good enough for him. And sorry, but Pete my guy, you’re a lot closer to Black Widow’s size than you are to most of the other team members.

In reality, Peter Parker would probably be honored and fanboy out over getting to use something Black Widow once had. After all, before Tony Stark upgraded him, his own suit manufacturing efforts were, let’s say, less than stellar. While we don’t know if Jon Watt’s hilarious conjecture about the stealth suit’s origin to Entertainment Weekly is strictly true, we do know a little bit about why Peter Parker is given the suit.

Following his exhausting adventures being a Friendly Universe Spider-Man in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is in need of a well-deserved vacation. He tries to take one in Spider-Man: Far From Home, but it wouldn’t be a movie if things didn’t go awry.

Nick Fury shows up (never a good sign) and recruits Spidey to take on the Elementals. It might seem odd for New York’s Spider-Man to suddenly show up in Europe at the same time Peter Parker is there, so in order to preserve his secret identity, Fury lends him the stealth suit. That said, if he’s still swinging around like Spider-Man, isn’t a black suit like putting glasses on Clark Kent? Maybe Peter’s efforts in Far From Home will be more ground-based.

Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is now the concluding film of Phase 3, has moved up a few days and swings in to theaters on July 2. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see all the big movies headed your way in the packed summer season, and for all the latest in superhero fashions, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

Fox Almost Made A Marvel Crossover Movie Starring The X-Men, Fantastic Four And More

Fox Almost Made A Marvel Crossover Movie Starring The X-Men, Fantastic Four And More

The superhero movie landscape looks a lot different than it did at the beginning of the decade. For one thing, back then, the film rights to properties like X-Men and the Fantastic Four still belonged to 20th Century Fox, a studio a long ways away from being owned by a certain Mouse House. As such, the chances of seeing these Marvel characters share screen time with those in the Marvel Cinematic Universe wasn’t possible.

However, evidently at one point Fox was considering making its own Avengers-level crossover superhero movie. During his recent appearance on Fatman Beyond, screenwriter Zack Stentz, who co-wrote both X-Men: First Class and Thor, was asked which of his movies that he’s written that will never come out is his favorite, Stentz answered:

My ex-partner and I, when we were working at Fox and working on X-Men: First Class, we did a secret movie for them that, I can't tell you what the plot was, but I can tell you that it used all of the characters, all of the Marvel characters that Fox had at the time in 2011. It used the X-Men. It used the Fantastic Four. It used Daredevil. It used Deadpool. Daredevil was still at Fox at the time. And it was a really cool freakin’ script. We almost had Paul Greengrass directing it, which would've been so cool, but he had another project to do instead. It didn't end up going, but it was a script I was really proud of and it would've been really good.

Man, this takes me back. While the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Deadpool were obviously Fox-only Marvel characters up until the Disney transaction went through, it’s easy to forget that Daredevil was also part of that group for a long time. The Man Without Fear only starred in one movie, and while Fox tried to get a reboot off the ground by 2012, that fell through and the rights went back to Marvel, paving the way for the Daredevil Netflix series.

Having Paul Greengrass direct this Fox crossover movie also would have been a cool choice, as the man had proved his action mettle with The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. Going off the loose time frame Zack Stentz laid out, I suspect Greengrass turned down this opportunity in favor of directing Captain Phillips, which went on to be nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, among other accolades.

Had Fox moved forward with this movie featuring the X-Men, Fantastic Four, Deadpool and X-Men, this might have placed the Fox Marvel franchise on a higher pedestal. Granted, the X-Men film series has been chugging along steadily for nearly two decades, which includes the surprise success of Deadpool, but along with Daredevil barely getting a chance to shine, the Fantastic Four movies didn’t fare particularly well, with the 2015 reboot ending up a critical and commercial bomb.

Perhaps new life could have been breathed into all these characters had they been able to join forces in such an epic tale, although I worry introducing Deadpool here might have resulted in the character not being adapted as well as he was in 2016. It’s also a good bet that this movie would have taken the X-Men down a much different path than they are now.

Fast-forwarding to now, all of these properties now rest under Marvel Studios, and while the plan is to keep Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool around, it’s expected that the Fantastic Four and X-Men will are rebooted down the line. Daredevil was cancelled over a month after Season 3 premiered, and it remains to be seen if we’ll ever see Charlie Cox’s version of Matt Murdock again or if the character will be rebooted again to better fit within MCU continuity.

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for updates concerning Marvel’s plans for any of the above characters on the big or small screens. Those of you who are curious about what the MCU has lined up next can look through our comprehensive guide.

Stan Lee Didn’t Get To See Avengers: Endgame Before He Died

Stan Lee Didn’t Get To See Avengers: Endgame Before He Died

Avengers: Endgame Spoilers Ahead

It's been weeks since Avengers: Endgame hit theaters, and the conversation surrounding the blockbuster is showing no signs of slowing. With the spoiler ban lifted, the cast and crew have been able to reveal more details, and answer lingering questions left after the film concluded. Endgame also marked Stan Lee's final cameo in the MCU, due to his death in November of 2018.

Stan Lee's Avengers: Endgame cameo doesn't disappoint, but unfortunately it doesn't look like the comic book icon got to see it before his passing. Kevin Feige recently broke the news that Lee didn't get to see Endgame, saying:

Stan loved to wait to see the final movie at the premiere, so unfortunately he did not get to see the finished movie. Stan got a download of the full story the day he came and shot his cameo.

What a bummer. But while Stan Lee didn't get to watch the epic and complex narrative of Avengers: Endgame before passing away, he was at least cued into movie's contents. And his final cameo is definitely one for the record books.

Kevin Feige's reveal about Stan Lee came from the Marvel Studio Head's recent Reddit AMA. Feige answered a variety of questions concerning the Marvel Cinematic Universe-- both its past and future. When asked if Lee got a chance to check out an early screener of Avengers: Endgame before his death, Feige revealed that the comic book legend preferred seeing them on the big screen.

It's that same childlike wonder that is what makes Stan Lee such a legend, and why his creations were able to transcend pop culture. And considering how visually stunning Avengers: Endgame was, it deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible.

Related: Marvel Is Making A Supercut Of Stan Lee Cameos And Unused Footage

Especially the absolutely behemoth final battle at the Avengers Compound, which saw the dusted characters and countless characters engage Thanos' army. The visual effects are stunning, with a ton of action and characters to follow in every frame. It's only a shame that Stan Lee wasn't able to enjoy every payoff and applause-inducing moment.

Stan Lee appeared in Avengers: Endgame in the film's second act, during the super ambitious Time Heist sequence. After accidentally allowing Loki to escape with the Space Stone, Cap and Tony traveled back to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in 1970. As the exterior of the facility is set up, we see a car driving by with the license plate "excelsior". Lee is behind the wheel, telling the government agency to make love, not war.

It's hard to imagine the Marvel Cinematic Universe without Stan Lee, especially his iconic cameos. But his vision continues to live in the blood of the massive franchise, which is showing no signs of slowing down.

You can catch Stan Lee in Avengers: Endgame, which is ramping up for yet another weekend at the box office. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.