Random Bits From The Week That Was...

It's that time again... Friday! So, you know what that means... my thoughts on the bits that I was too lazy to write about, or you know, didn't actually require a full post...

Couple of Surprises At The Weekend Box Office...

So, it turns out that people were really looking forward to 22 Jump Street. The sequel landed at the number one spot at the box office this past weekend, pulling in $57.1M. How To Train Your Dragon 2 debuted at number 2 with $49.5M. I found this a bit of a surprise, as family movies usually kill at the box office, and HTTYD2 is a spectacular film. I guess the bromance between Hill and Tatum was enough to draw the adults to the R-rated flick. Maleficent is holding strong in the number 3 spot with $18.5M, it's 3 week total now at $163M. Edge of Tomorrow, due to great word of mouth no doubt, was in the number 4 spot with $16.5M and The Fault In Our Stars sank like a stone to land in the number 5 spot with $14.8M, down about 70% from it's opening weekend. While I caught the film last weekend, and enjoyed it, I was the only one in the theatre on Sunday afternoon... literally. It was just me, all by my lonesome self, which was kind of weird, but whatever. I guess the films audience flocked to it in it's opening weekend, and without a great deal of re-watchability, the numbers definitely reflected that. It was also fantastic to see Edge of Tomorrow holding it's own in this busy summer season, as the film is fantastic. With not much competition opening this coming weekend, I am interested to see how the numbers for all of these films play out.


Final Trailer For Apes On Horses Debuts...

20th Century Fox has released what it is referring to as the final trailer for the upcoming Dawn of the Planet of The Apes, and holy crap, is it amazing. The trailer is a great mix of footage we've already seen, and a touch of new, just enough to offer the perfect amount of interest and excitement. I am so looking forward to this film, it's not even funny. The first one was so amazing, that if this one even comes close to being as good, we're in for a serious treat. I'll definitely be checking this one out on opening night.


Dr. Strange Finds It's Scribe...

Hot on the heels of the news that Scott Derrickson would be directing Marvel's Dr. Strange movie, the studio announced that Prometheus writer, John Spaihts is in talks to pen the script. While I admit, I have not seen Prometheus yet, so I therefore cannot have an opinion one way or another about that film, I do find this news very intriguing. By getting Derrickson and Spaihts to helm this project (if that's the way that this all eventually turns out, mind you), it appears that Marvel is interested in taking this project in a new, and exciting direction. Dr. Strange is a dark and twisted character, and it looks like Marvel is wanting to keep it that way. All I can say is, I'm in! In Feige, I trust.


Marvel Drops A Second International Trailer For Guardians...

The studio released a new, international trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy earlier this week and all I can say is, it's absolutely stunning. Going for a slightly more dramatic feel, this trailer shows off some of the depth that I think the movie will be bringing to the big screen when it's released in August. While I enjoyed the first two trailers, they were mostly focused on the comedic aspects of the film, which I think was a little off-putting to some people. This trailer shows that, like the other properties in the MCU, this one should also be a nice mix of comedy, action and drama. I am highly anticipating this film and cannot wait for it to be released in a few weeks.


And Then There Was Aquaman...

So, it is being reported by The Hollywood Reporter that Jason Momoa is confirmed as Aquaman for the upcoming Justice League film  Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice film, slated for release on May 6, 2016. While Momoa wouldn't be my first choice for the normally blonde superhero, I understand Warner Brothers motivation. Aquaman has always been the Justice League character that has been ridiculed and scoffed at, so I understand the need to hire an imposing presence to play the character. And Momoa definitely fits the bill. While I'm still not completely sold on this film and what exactly it's going to be, I am intrigued to see the final product. One of two things is going to happen: either the film will be great, like the recently released Days of Future Past, or it will be a train-wreck of epic proportions like The Amazing Spiderman 2. I guess we'll see...


Next Bourne Film Pushed Back A Year...      

Universal has pushed it's next movie in the Bourne Franchise back to July 15, 2016 in order to make room for their upcoming N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton, which is moving into the August 14, 2015 date. Rumours are swirling, however, that the studio has ulterior motives for the move. According to Latino-Review (via Schmoes Know), the real reason for the push-back is so that the studio can get Matt Damon back in the fold of the franchise. Damon has had a couple of so-so performances at the box office recently, and his return to the franchise might be what he needs to turn things around. I like this news, as I think that the Bourne Legacy did a great job of expanding the universe and it would be amazing to see Aaron Cross and Jason Bourne on the big screen together, kicking ass and taking names.


Don't Worry! The Batman Is, Apparently, On His Way...

When Nikki Finke's supposed scoop broke about the upcoming slate of DC films going to be released by Warner Brothers over the next few years, one of the things that stood out to me the most was the fact that there was no solo Batman flick listed. Fear not, fans of the Caped Crusader! According to Latino-Review (again, via Schmoes Know, because if you haven't guessed by now, that's where all of my movie news comes from!), Warner Brothers has slated a new Batman stand-alone film for release in 2019. As I speculated in my article about Finke's scoop, the delay is most likely due to Affleck's busy schedule. He is currently filming BvS, which will then lead into the Justice League film. That gives him late 2015/early 2016 to direct his next project, the gangster flick Live By Night, before he has to don the cape and cowl once again. It will be interesting to see if the WB hands the directorial reigns to him for the Batman project as well, although I would think it would be a no brainer on their part. You don't have a guy with Affleck's talents in your back pocket and not use him to his full potential. 

Are We Headed For Superhero Over-Saturation?

So, an interesting tid-bit has emerged that involves DC and Warner Brothers and their plans to build their Cinematic Universe. The Schmoes Know broke the story yesterday, (which you can find here,) about The WB's upcoming slate of films and their potential release dates. Now, as the article states, this information hasn't been confirmed by anyone and should be taken with a grain of salt, as the source may be slightly questionable. Regardless, it makes for interesting speculation.

So, according to Nikki Finke, formerly of Deadline.com, at this years Comic-Con in San Diego, Warner Brothers and DC are set to announce the line-up of films that they have planned in regards to their Cinematic Universe. The list is as follows:

May 2016 - Batman v Superman
July 2016 - Shazam
December 2016 - Sandman
May 2017 - Justice League
July 2017 - Wonder Woman
December 2017 - Flash/Green Lantern Team Up
May 2018 - Man of Steel 2

All I can say is, holy ambitious, Batman!

First off, what strikes me about this list is the fact that DC and Warner Brothers look to be going balls to the wall in regards to this whole thing. For the foreseeable future, their plan is to release three movies a year. Apparently, they're hell-bent on making up for lost time. The report also goes on to state that the reason that BvS was pushed back a year was not, as speculated, because the WB wasn't ready to move forward with the film, but was in fact because they were still trying to get the members of the Justice League to sign on the bottom line. Apparently, the actors will be making cameo appearances in the films leading up to the big one and they wanted to make sure that everyone was on board. (I'm not exactly sure if Sandman fits into the DCU or not, as it doesn't seem like it would, but then, I don't really know a whole lot about the character and where he fits in the comic book universe, so I can't say for sure).

The second thing that stands out, is the inclusion of a Wonder Woman stand-alone film on this list. Rumour has always been that Warner Brothers was gun-shy in regards to a female-led superhero flick, even though that female superhero in question is iconic and extremely recognizable. I would love to see a Wonder Woman movie, and given how, recently, female-driven films seem to be killing it at the box office, I can understand the WB's about face in regards to this project. I still have my doubts about how well Gal Godot is going to be able to pull off this character, however. It would have been nice if they had hired an actual actress, instead of an underwear model, but whatever. I guess the jury's out on this one until we see what she does in Batman v Superman.

The inclusion of Shazam on this list is also very interesting. He's not an extremely well known character, although, speculation is that this could be the role that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been hinting about, making it all the more intriguing. How they're going to pull this one off, I'm still not sure, but it will be interesting, to say the least. The fact that Shazam (or Captain Marvel as he was formerly known... although you can see where that could get really confusing, really fast!) spends half his time as 12-year-old Billy Batson (or 15-year-old, if you're going by the New 52 timeline), seems to be a waste of The Rock's talents. Another rumour has Johnson playing Black Adam, Shazam's arch-nemesis, turned member of the Justice League. Either way, it makes for an intriguing prospect.

I think the biggest surprise of this list is the exclusion of Batman. While the Caped Crusader will have a large part in Batman v Superman and will definitely be part of the Justice League, I am surprised that there are no plans for a stand-alone Batman movie, or franchise just yet. Either the WB thinks we're Batman'd out and doesn't want to compete with Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, or this has something to do with Ben Affleck's schedule. Either way, I find it interesting that there doesn't seem to be an immediate plan for one of their most iconic characters. This leads me to believe that Affleck's Batman will be the main character in the upcoming Batman v Superman film, his character arc needing to be relatively well developed for them to move forward.

But, overall, what does this mean for the Superhero genre as a whole? Now that both Fox and Sony have also thrown their hats into the Universe building ring, are all of these comic book adaptations going to flood the overall market? By the time that 2018 rolls around, will we be so sick and tired of Superhero movies that the bottom falls out of the whole genre? I mean, if all goes to plan, then we will be getting probably somewhere between six and seven comic book movies released every year. I guess it's possible that there could be some fatigue, although I do think it's highly unlikely. With the exception of The Amazing Spiderman 2 (let's hope that Sony has learned it's lesson, although it doesn't look like it, as there is a report out that says, while they're pushing TASM 3 back to 2017, it's only so that they can shoehorn their Sinister Six movie into its 2016 release date! Did they learn nothing with TASM2?), comic book movies just keep getting better and better. The studios are raising the bar with each subsequent release. The Winter Soldier and Days of Future Past are arguably the best Superhero releases to date... moving beyond just great genre films and into the realm of great films, period. If the studios continue to release great movies, I think that audiences will continue to flock to them. The idea of solid, strategic Universes, built around characters that we have come to know and love is very appealing. As long as the end product is entertaining, what difference does it make if it's based off a comic book or not? Besides, it's very cool to see the heroes that we grew up with on the big screen, in a manner that is fitting to their stature. It's nice to be a film fan at a time where, technologically, film makers are able to bring these larger than life characters to life on the big screen, without it looking hokey or fake. These days they are able to pull images directly from the page and transport them to a movie screen near you. It really is great to be a geek!

I guess what remains to be seen is whether or not Finke's "scoop" is actually true or not. With just a little under five weeks until Comic-Con in San Diego, we don't have long to wait and see what comes of this whole thing. It will be interesting to see how on the money she was. And what else Comic-Con has in store for us. I can hardly wait!

Justice League Light Gets An Official Title...

So, Warner Brothers stunned everyone and actually, out of the blue, dropped the official title of the Man of Steel sequel, set for release on May 6, 2016...

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Hmmm, interesting. But I will admit, I'm not a fan. First off, why are we still considering this a Man of Steel sequel, because it's clearly not. Zack Snyder can talk about it being a MOS sequel until he's blue in the face, and yet, when your film's title doesn't even suggest anything close to that, it's kind of hard to swallow. Yes, yes, I know that it's possible that Snyder and Goyer didn't actually have any say in the matter, that this was completely Warner Brothers doing what they do. Regardless, I'm still not sold.

First off, if it's his movie, why is Superman playing second fiddle to Batman? Is it an alphabetical thing? A bigger star-power thing? A character recognition thing? (Although how you can argue that one, I have no idea. I mean, yes Batman is Batman... but Superman is SUPERMAN! Probably the most recognizable superhero on the planet!) Okay, I get it. By putting Batman before the versus, it looks like he's the aggressor, the one doing the pushing. But then, how is this a direct sequel to Man of Steel? It's obvious that Batman is going to play a huge role in this movie, possibly a bigger one that most of us expected... okay, so maybe that was just me, but I was actually hoping for a true sequel to MOS. I think that Superman deserved that much, at least!... And, while I wasn't a huge fan of the first Man of Steel film, I was looking forward to the film makers exploring the ideas and threads that I did like, in greater detail in the sequel. Now, it looks like Superman is going to have to share a great deal of his screen time, and character development with a brand new Batman. And while we've seen Batman before, and know the general gist of his story, this will be a new Batman to the movie going audience, so regardless of back story or not, his character is going to have be developed to a certain degree, pulling even more screen time away from Superman. Because let's face it, the Kal-El/Superman that we saw in Man of Steel was still coming in to his own. His character was far from complete, and now instead of watching him grow and adapt to his powers and what they mean to both him and the world around him, instead of building and growing his relationship with both Lois Lane and Lex Luthor, instead of watching him struggle to keep his identity secret, we're going to get he and Batman, (instead of Zod this time) punching each other through buildings. Yes, I know that Clarke Kent/Kal-El/Superman can do all of those things with Batman hanging around, I just wish that he didn't have to.

Now, on to the "Dawn of Justice" bit. Could you be any more blatant, Warner Brothers? Why don't you smack us in the face with the fact that this is leading directly into a Justice League film? Oh wait, you already did. So, not only is Kal-El getting screwed out of his own sequel with the addition of Batman, you're also going to throw Wonder Woman and Cyborg into the mix, just for good measure. And, believe me, I'm pretty sure that we're going to hear about the addition of an Aquaman or a Martian Manhunter or a Green Lantern pretty soon, too. So, now, instead of a Superman movie or a Batman versus Superman movie, we're now talking full on Justice League territory. Regardless of the amount of screen time they get, just the addition of these extra characters changes the way that this whole thing is going to be perceived. And as their new title suggests, that's exactly what Warner Brothers wants. So what's with the charade? Let's call a spade, a spade, and stop fooling around. This is no longer a sequel to Man of Steel, it's a prequel to the Justice League. Plain and simple.

Did we learn nothing from this whole The Amazing Spiderman 2 debacle? Sacrificing your story for set-up is definitely not the way to go. And I truly hope that this isn't what's happening here. I hope that they did learn from TASM2 and are looking at alternative ways to tell a great story. And I get it, no matter what they do, they're going to be compared to Marvel, and that really does suck. If Warner Brother's starts their cinematic universe with origin stories, then they're just copying Marvel. If they try something different, then they don't know what they are doing, and why don't they do it like Marvel did? It's a no win situation for them. These days, Marvel is a well oiled machine and let's face it, they make it look easy. And it's definitely not.   

So let's hope that Superman doesn't get lost in the midst of everything going on in the background. Because I can guarantee you, when Ben Affleck gets to do his Batman solo film(s), he's not going to have to battle for screen time with anyone. He will not be second fiddle, that's for sure. I think that Warner Brother's owes it to Kal-El to treat him with the same amount of respect. Although it doesn't look like it'll be this time, maybe eventually he'll get there. 

Wonder Twin Powers Activate... Or, You Know... Not...

So, it appears that a Justice League movie is on it's way... and it's not actually the Man of Steel sequel set for release in 2016. Who would've guessed?

According to the Wall Street Journal, the President of Warner Brothers, George Silverman, has confirmed that a Justice League movie is in the works. It appears that it will be the WB's next big release after the Man of Steel sequel, or Batman vs. Superman, or World's Finest, or Justice League Light, or whatever you want to call it, in 2016. That means that it will be at least 2018 before we actually see this happen.

So, to say that I'm excited, would be an over-statement of huge proportions. Does that mean that I don't want the movie? Hell no! I think it'll be amazing to see these characters on the big screen together for the first time. I mean, Super Friends was a huge part of my childhood. (But please, regardless of my title, no Jayna and Zan!) And, if this all works out, is going to be a huge, huge, epic movie.

But here's where the problems lie... First off, this will be the third... count 'em, third... DC movie to be directed by Zack Snyder, in a row. You've got to be a huge Zack Snyder fan to welcome this news, and in case you missed it, I'm not. Sure, Zack Snyder is a great visual director, but I need more than great visuals in my comic book movies. What's the point of putting all of these great characters together, if you're not going to do anything with them, except throw them through buildings? One of the reasons that The Avengers was such a great movie, in my opinion, is because Joss Whedon is really great at creating and building character dynamics. (All you have to do is watch a season of Buffy or all of Firefly to see this... which, if you haven't, I highly recommend!) And, what makes the Marvel Cinematic Universe so great, and diverse, is that they have chosen a different director for each of their movies so far. While each of the movies in the MCU have the same overall "feel", if you will (because they are all overseen by Kevin Feige and need to head in the same direction to eventually get where they need to go), each character and film has their own unique tone and style, brought on by the different directors that helm each project. It will be interesting to see what happens with The Age of Ultron and Captain America 3, as these will be the first Marvel properties, aside from the first 2 Iron Man movies, that are directed by the same directors. But again, I digress...

Secondly, although we are now talking 2018, for some reason this feels rushed to me. I mean, the WB couldn't even manage to get the Man of Steel sequel out on time, after the big announcement at last years Comic-Con. Once they realized how premature it was to actually announce it, solely in a effort to one-up Marvel, they were forced to push the release date back almost a full year. It seems to me that, instead of having a distinct plan and acting on it, that the WB is flying by the seat of it's pants, trying to do anything to stop the juggernaut that is Kevin Feige and his MCU vision. What they seem to forget is that, unlike their own situation, Kevin Feige set course to this vision back in 2008 and has methodically been ticking off the boxes as we go along. I mean, between now and May 6, 2016, when the WB is set to release the Man of Steel sequel (the second move in it's Cinematic Universe), Marvel will have released four... again, count 'em, four, new movies! (And that's not including the fantastic Captain America: The Winter Soldier from earlier this month!) That, my friends, is why, in my opinion, it's not possible for the WB and it's DC properties to ever catch Marvel. Marvel keeps chugging along, full speed ahead, while DC is spinning it's wheels.

While I am intrigued by the idea, and I do wish the WB and DC well, I can't say that I am overly excited at the whole prospect. While it would be very cool, as a comic book fan and a self-proclaimed geek, to have an epic battle of Marvel vs. DC on the big screen (numbers wise, I mean... I'm not a fan of the cross-over idea at all!), I will reserve judgement until I actually see what they do with the Man of Steel sequel. If it's anything like the original, for me, this just might be a short ride.

Below are some links to the original article, and the opinions of some people, who are way smarter than me!

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/04/27/warner-bros-details-plans-for-justice-league-movie-exclusive/  Original Wall Street Journal Article

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/04/28/admit-it-youre-pumped-for-the-justice-league-movie/?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Speakeasy&mod=WSJ_ArtsEnt_Speakeasy  Second Wall Street Journal Article

http://schmoesknow.com/zack-snyder-is-officially-directing-justice-league/22130/  Schmoes Know Article