Tag: hollywood

After Barbie, Mattel Is Launching Its Own Cinematic Universe With 14 Movies: Report

Fresh off Barbie’s box office success, manufacturer Mattel, which owns the Barbie brand, is reportedly looking to expand on its IP with 14 new feature films, all in different stages of production. As per Variety, they include a surrealistic Barney movie, Lena Dunham’s take on Polly Pocket, a Hot Wheels movie produced by J.J. Abrams, and more. The Mattel executives are also keen to do sequels to Greta Gerwig’s candy-coated film, though the filmmaker isn’t thinking about a follow-up for now, claiming, “At this moment, it’s all I’ve got.” Then again, seeing the impressive $337 million (about Rs. 2,763 crore) it made during the opening weekend, it’s not hard to imagine that Warner Bros. and Mattel will want more.

The Variety report notes that producer Robbie Brenner, who currently leads Mattel Films, was hoping for Barbie to succeed, so they could bank on potential sequels and new projects based on established IP. This echoes the newly-appointed CEO Ynon Kreiz’s plan from 2018 when Mattel’s sales were dwindling, where he wanted to turn the toy company into a franchise composed of films, TV series, and theme parks — much like Disney. Their first step towards that goal seems to have paid off, with the Barbie movie outselling Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, both having released on the same day.

Reports from earlier this month confirmed Oscar-winning actor Daniel Kaluuya (Nope) would be producing and starring in an adult-oriented ‘A24-type‘ film based on Barney, the friendly purple dinosaur from the children’s TV show Barney & Friends. Mattel executives claimed that it won’t be R-rated, but the themes would lean more towards an adult’s taste, featuring a ‘surrealistic’ take that’s similar to films like Being John Malkovich and Adaptation — from the brilliant minds of Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman. Speaking to Variety, producer Brenner claimed that the film will be about ‘identity and finding who you love and who feels alienated.’

The miniature-sized Polly Pocket is another toy brand that Mattel plans to turn into a movie, albeit it doesn’t have as big of a brand recognition as Barbie. Lena Dunham (Girls) will write and direct the movie, which stars Lily Collins (Emily in Paris, Mank) in the lead role. The film is still in its early stages, with producer Brenner claiming that a ‘great’ script was turned in. Meanwhile, J.J. Abrams (Mission: Impossible III) will produce a movie based on the Hot Wheels toy line, which is being described as ‘grounded and gritty’ with emotional characters that the audience will be able to relate to. Warner Bros. will be distributing it and since Abrams is involved, you might as well factor in some lens flare.

Fast & Furious star Vin Diesel is looking to delve into robots soon, with a feature film adaptation of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, the tabletop boxing game from Mattel that pits a red and a blue fighter against each other, as you mash away at joysticks attached to the ring. Ryan Engle — best known for Rampage — is writing the script. A He-Man live-action adaptation has been in the works for a long time, with Netflix cancelling ‘Masters of the Universe‘ just last week. Mattel is still looking for a new buyer for He-Man though, which it believes has the potential to explode into a ‘mega-franchise’. The now-cancelled film was to be directed by Aaron and Adam Nee (The Lost City) and featured West Side Story’s Kyle Allen as the lead actor.

Tom Hanks (The Terminal) is set to appear as the Mattel astronaut figurine Major Matt Mason, who lived and worked on the moon, attracting screenwriters Akiva Goldsman (I, Robot) and Michael Chabon (Star Trek: Picard). Thanks to the ongoing writers’ strike in Hollywood, it will be a while before the production moves forward. The company is also planning a PG-13 thriller surrounding the Magic 8 Ball, which was used as a fortune-telling toy back in the 1950s. And if that wasn’t absurd enough already, Mattel will also make a movie based on the UNO card game, which is being written by Marcy Kelly.

Mattel doesn’t seem to be done with dolls yet and wants to explore an American Girl movie for its expansive ‘Mattelverse.’ As per Variety, the film will be a family comedy that’s aimed at helping young girls ‘grow with confidence and develop character.’ Even Thomas & Friends is getting a fantasy film adaptation, directed by Marc Forster, who rose to prominence with World War Z and Finding Neverland. Amidst this exhaustive list, Mattel is also adapting a true story for the screen. Titled ‘Christmas Balloon,’ the film follows a young girl, who tied her Christmas present list to a balloon and sent it up into the air, only to be found by a grieving couple who work with the toy company to make her wishes come true. Gabby Lugo (A Million Little Things) is attached to write the screenplay.

Here’s the entire list of movies Mattel has planned for the foreseeable future. Bear in mind that production might take some time, given the ongoing actors’ and writers’ strikes in Hollywood.

Barney — produced by and starring Daniel Kaluuya

Polly Pocket — from Lena Dunham, starring Lily Collins

Hot Wheels — produced by J.J. Abrams

Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots — starring Vin Diesel

American Girl — a family comedy

Magic 8 Ball — a PG-13 thriller

Masters of the Universe — previously cancelled by Netflix

Major Matt Mason — from Akiva Goldsman and Michael Chabon, starring Tom Hanks

UNO — written by Marcy Kelly

Wishbone — produced by Peter Farrelly (Dumb & Dumber)

Matchbox — written by David Coggeshall (Orphan: First Kill)

Thomas & Friends — from Marc Forster (World War Z)

View Master — an adventure film based on the classic picture-viewing toy

Christmas Balloon — from Gabby Lugo; based on a true story

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Toronto International Film Festival Unveils Packed Lineup Despite Actors’ Strike

The Toronto International Film Festival, North America’s largest, on Monday, unveiled an A-list lineup of world premieres amid the Hollywood strikes, including movies starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Seth Rogen. The festival, which has been a launchpad for numerous Oscar-winning movies, is moving ahead with plans for its September 7 to 17 event in the face of doubts over whether the big names will come to promote their work. The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) is on strike in a battle with studios over pay and other work conditions, meaning that its members generally cannot promote films produced by studios and streamers involved in the dispute.

However, SAG-AFTRA negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told Hollywood news outlet Deadline that actors could benefit from some kind of ‘interim agreement’ to head to Toronto in support of independent features. On the list of world premieres slated for TIFF are several expected award contenders including ‘Dumb Money‘, starring Rogen and Paul Dano, about the amateur investors who turned GameStop into a Wall Street phenomenon in 2021. De Niro stars in actor Tony Goldwyn’s ‘Ezra’, about a man (Bobby Cannavale) who moves back in with his father (De Niro) after blowing up his career and marriage.

Other world premieres include Taika Waititi’s sports comedy ‘Next Goal Wins‘, French filmmaker Ladj Ly’s drama ‘Les Indesirables’, Atom Egoyan’s ‘Seven Veils’ starring Amanda Seyfried, and Michael Keaton’s ‘Knox Goes Away’, starring Pacino. Also on tap is the international premiere of awards hopeful ‘The Holdovers‘ from director Alexander Payne (Sideways) about a teacher (Paul Giamatti) tasked with supervising students at a boarding school who cannot go home for Christmas break.

TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey said in a statement that the lineup showcased a “rich tapestry of talent, vision, and storytelling.” The Toronto film fest is a key part of the fall festival lineup, along with Venice and Telluride, at which movies hoping to build early Oscars momentum typically hold lavish premieres.

TIFF’s annual People’s Choice Award has become an increasingly accurate Oscars bellwether, predicting eventual best picture winners such as ‘Nomadland’, which took home the Academy Award in 2021, and ‘Green Book’. The event only returned to full strength in 2022, after two years of online or hybrid events staged amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Will the Nothing Phone 2 serve as the successor to the Phone 1, or will the two co-exist? We discuss the company’s recently launched handset and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Daniel Radcliffe Says He’s ‘Definitely Not Seeking’ a Cameo in Max’s Harry Potter TV Series: Report

Daniel Radcliffe is stated to be fine with not returning in Max’s upcoming TV series adaptation of Harry Potter, even in a cameo role. Speaking to ComicBook.com, the British actor, known for playing ‘The Boy Who Lived’ in the eight-film-long franchise, confirmed that he’s not actively seeking a role in the show, adding that he’s quite “excited to have that torch passed.” Warner Bros. Discovery ordered a decade-long series adaptation of the controversial author J.K. Rowling’s books in April, which will feature an entirely new cast. Rowling will executive produce the series, which is rumoured to premiere sometime in 2025 or 2026.

“My understanding is that they’re trying to very much start fresh and I’m sure whoever is making them will want to make their own mark on it and probably not want to have to figure out how to get old Harry to cameo in this somewhere,” Radcliffe said in the interview. “So I’m definitely not seeking it out in any way. But I do wish them, obviously, all the luck in the world and I’m very excited to have that torch passed. But I don’t think it needs me to physically pass it.” Radcliffe’s comments on cameo appearances do hold some weight, with modern blockbusters oftentimes including past actors for nostalgia purposes or simply to drive older audiences to theatres. The Ezra Miller-led The Flash is a good example of that, with the film using multiversal shenanigans as an excuse to carry out somewhat illogical fan service, instead of telling a coherent story.

The Wizarding World on the big screen was originally planned to continue with five films in the Fantastic Beasts series, but development seems to be in a state of limbo after the third one — Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore — possibly due to the latest film’s lacklustre reception. As for the planned Harry Potter Max series, each of Rowling’s seven novels will be adapted into a single season of television, trying to recapture the same magic as Warner Bros’ movies did 25 years ago, albeit tailored for a new generation. The story largely follows the titular 11-year-old orphaned boy, who upon learning that he’s a wizard is whisked away on a whimsical journey to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to harness his magical powers and learn the truth behind his biological parents’ death.

Since his stint in the Harry Potter films, lead Radcliffe has appeared in a bunch of theatre plays and movies in absurd roles — even playing a washed-up zombie in Oscar-winning directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Swiss Army Man. He will next be seen in the fourth season of TBS’ anthology comedy series ‘Miracle Workers’ as wasteland warrior Sid, navigating a fictional dystopia called Boomtown. Geraldine Viswanathan (Bad Education) co-stars in it as a ruthless warlord, coming to terms with the existential terms of married life and small-town living.

The Harry Potter series is allegedly eyeing a release sometime in 2025–26, exclusively on Max.

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Quentin Tarantino Not Working on Kill Bill Volume 3: Report

It appears that filmmaker Quentin Tarantino will not return with the third chapter of ‘Kill Bill’. Many Tarantino fans were hoping that Tarantino would return to the Kill Bill world and cast Uma Thurman‘s daughter Maya Hawke in a possible sequel to the Kill Bill films, originally released in 2003 and 2004 as a two-part storyline. However, the filmmaker has stated in a new interview that a third chapter of the martial arts film would not be made, as per a report by Deadline.

Deadline quoted the Tarantino interview with DeMorgen where he opened up on speculation about Thurman and Hawke teaming up in a Kill Bill sequel. He said, “I don’t see that. My last film is about a film critic, a male critic. And he plays in the 70s.” Tarantino has set a 10-film limit for himself, and his next film about a movie critic is stated to be his last, leaving no opportunity for a Kill Bill sequel.

Thurman discussed the possibility of Kill Bill: Vol. 3 happening in 2022. During an appearance on The Jess Cagle Show, she said, “I can’t really tell you anything about it. I mean it has been discussed over the years. There was real thought about it happening, but very long ago. I don’t see it as immediately on the horizon.”

Tarantino has stated that he had spoken with Thurman about the possibility of creating another sequel and incorporating concepts from the first two films. Vivica A. Fox, who portrayed Vernita Green in the film series and was slain by Beatrix Kiddo, recently discussed why fans still want to see more of this narrative. “I think the main draw is that people love Tarantino’s work,” she said in an interview with CBR. “He’s always got this weird quirkiness that surprises you, that intrigues you, [and] that makes you want more.” 

Fox featured in a music video with SZA in which they recreated Kill Bill, sparking suspicion that the singer will play her daughter in a possible sequel. She added, “I was like, ‘No, it’s just a song, and she loves Kill Bill. So I just think it’s the love of Tarantino and the magic of those films.”

From the Nothing Phone 2 to the Motorola Razr 40 Ultra, several new smartphones are expected to make their debeut in July. We discuss all of the most exciting smartphones coming this month and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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Dune: Part Two Trailer: Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya Plot Revenge Against the Harkonnen

Dune: Part Two just got a second trailer — in English and Hindi. Warner Bros. has dropped a chunky three-minute-long trailer for the highly-awaited sequel from Denis Villeneuve, taking us back to the desert planet Arrakis where Paul Atreidis (Timothée Chalamet) leads a rebellion against the Harkonnens, who seek to rule and mine the fictional spice melange. Romance blossoms between him and Chani (Zendaya), as he grapples with being worshipped as some kind of a revered prophet who would liberate the planet’s natives. The film was originally set to hit theatres on November 17 but was then brought forward by two weeks to a November 3 release date.

Dune: Part Two trailer

The trailer for Dune: Part Two opens right at the heart of the scorching desert, where Paul (Chalamet) muses about the spoils of war, having recently lost his father (Oscar Isaac) and most of the Atreides lineage in 2021’s Dune. “This world is beyond cruelty,” he tells the Fremen native Chani (Zendaya), his romantic interest. “You’ve been fighting the Harkonnens for decades. My family’s been fighting them for centuries.” Ditching his father’s no-revenge policy, Paul and his mother Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) join the Fremen, leading a warpath against the evil conspirators. The two would soon bear bright blue-coloured eyes, thanks to the consumption of melange, the psychedelic substance that heightens their senses. It does take a while for the natives to trust Paul, though Chani seems to have already sided with him — “I won’t be fighting for him. I’m fighting for my people,” she says.

Dune: Part Two Hindi Trailer

On the run and hiding from the Harkonnen footsoldiers, Paul finally runs into his mentor Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin), who has been out in the desert searching for his ‘young pup’ since the massacre of the Atreides forces. “There are signs,” Stilgar (Javier Bardem) speaks of his faith in Paul to be the one to free them from a prophesised life of enslavement, as we’re treated to visions of the young prince riding a giant sandworm. Murmurs from the Fremen colony described Paul as some kind of ‘prophet’, which he’s asked to embrace and take advantage of to lead a rebellion. “Because all my visions lead to horror,” Paul explains in the Dune: Part 2 trailer, which is a good inclusion when compared to David Lynch’s 1984 Dune, where the character was treated as a good-willing hero or a messiah. While Paul is initially reluctant to lead the forces, he soon gains the natives’ trust, granting him immense control that turns him into a powerful ruler leading a crusade.

We then cut to see the Baron’s (Stellan Skarsgård) cruel nephew Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler) sporting a terrifying look with a bald head and shaved eyebrows, adept at hand-to-hand combat, eventually leading to a climactic battle against Paul. “Your father was a weak man,” Emperor Shaddam IV (Christopher Walken) tells him, angering the prince who’s always idolised his father. As Paul grows in power, the Dune: Part Two trailer treats us to some action sequences where the Fremen engage in battle against the Harkonnens, showboating Chani’s skills in combat. “I am Paul Muad’dib Atreides! Duke of Arrakis! Long live the fighters!”, Paul yells at the end, foreshadowing the tyrant he’ll soon turn into. The film also stars Léa Seydoux as the Bene Gesserit Lady Margot, Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, and Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban, the brutish nephew of the Baron.

Dune: Part Two releases November 3 in theatres worldwide.

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Netflix Tudum Trailers: Heart of Stone, One Piece, 3 Body Problem, and More

Netflix’s Tudum event returned this year with a frenzy of new trailers and announcements. The global event was held live from Brazil, early Sunday, bringing teasers for the much-anticipated live-action adaptations of the swashbuckling pirate animes One Piece and Avatar: The Last Airbender, whose last real-life adaptation was a glorious mess. Gal Gadot, Alia Bhatt, and Jamie Dornan star in an action-fueled trailer for Heart of Stone, while Zack Snyder fans are treated to a behind-the-scenes look at his upcoming space opera Rebel Moon. The biggest highlight, however, has to be 3 Body Problem, Netflix’s adaptation of the acclaimed sci-fi novel by Liu Cixin.

The Bear Season 2 to The Witcher Season 3 Vol. 1: The Biggest Web Series in June

All these and more were announced at the Netflix Tudum 2023 event — here’s a compilation of the biggest ones:

One Piece

Based on the iconic manga and anime from Eichiro Oda, a live-action adaptation of One Piece has been gestating for years now, with Netflix finally picking it up in 2020 with a 10-episode order. The teaser evokes the sense of the introductory chapters — East Blue Saga — wherein the protagonist Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) heads out on a quest to form his own pirate crew, recruiting the likes of the green-haired swordsman Zoro (Mackenyu), the enigmatic thief Nami (Emily Rudd), the loudmouthed Usopp (Jacob Romero Gibson), and the uber talented romantic chef Sanji (Taz Skylar).

The teaser offers a brief glimpse at the villain Buggy D. Clown as well, alongside Luffy stretching his arm out for the Gum-Gum Pistol attack. One Piece sets sail August 31 on Netflix.

3 Body Problem

From the creators of Game of Thrones – David Benioff and D. B. Weiss – comes 3 Body Problem, an adaptation of the Chinese author Cixin Liu’s book, wherein a young woman’s fateful decision in 1960s China reverberates across space and time to alert a group of brilliant scientists in the future. It’s essentially the story of an impending alien invasion that spans decades, with the original novel claiming the Hugo Awards, and several other nominations, including the Prometheus Award. 3 Body Problem is slated to release in January 2024.

The Archies

Zoya Akhtar welcomed us to her reimagined world of The Archies, which is billed as a musical drama set in the swinging 1960s in India. It stars Agastya Nanda as the titular redhead Archie Andrews, Suhana Khan as the pompous Veronica Lodge, Khushi Kapoor as the kind-hearted Betty, and Mihir Ahuja as the gluttonous Jughead. The film finished production in December last year and still does not have a release window.

Berlin

Netflix has served a teaser for Berlin, the Money Heist spin-off series focusing on the origin of the iconic jewel thief Andrés de Fonollosa/ Berlin, who constructs a series of heists across Europe with the biggest prize in an auction house in Paris. However, he also has his eyes set on another prize – a mysterious woman who happens to be the wife of the person he’s trying to rob. Things get complicated when Berlin falls in love with her, complicating things with his loyal crew. Money Heist Berlin is eyeing a release sometime in December.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

It’s hard to wash away the horrid memories of M. Night Shyamalan’s adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, which heavily steered away from the source material. No footage was shown for Netflix’s take on it, but you’d naturally expect it to correct the faults of the previous one. However, I’m not feeling too optimistic about this one, considering its showrunners and creators of the franchise Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko departed the project due to creative differences in 2020. Meanwhile, Netflix remained committed to the series, which comes out sometime in 2024.

Heart of Stone

Gal Gadot, Alia Bhatt, and Jamie Dornan lead this action spy thriller that’s billed to kickstart a franchise akin to Mission: Impossible. In it, an intelligence operative Rachel Stone is racing to stop a hacker from stealing a nefarious world-threatening MacGuffin known as ‘The Heart.’ Gadot signed an eight-figure deal (in dollars) for Heart of Stone, while Bhatt makes her Hollywood debut. The film drops August 11 on Netflix.

Rebel Moon featurette

So far, we’ve only gotten to see glimpses of Zack Snyder’s space opera through images, but this featurette gives a sense of the tonal aspects and the atmospheric scale of it all. In Rebel Moon, an enigmatic young woman Kora (Sofia Boutella), sets out on a mission to seek out warriors from nearby planets to help take a stand against an oppressive empire led by the Regent Balisaurus. The film will be divided into two parts, with the first one slated to release December 22. Snyder has also planned additional explicit cuts of both films that are intended strictly for adults and will be released at a much later date.

The Witcher season 3 clip

Young Ciri (Freya Allan) runs into some bandits in this brief clip from The Witcher season 3, only to be saved by her adoptive father Geralt of Rivia (Henry Cavill) and the powerful sorceress Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), leading to a portal-warping fight sequence. As the elves enter the scene, Geralt partakes in some intense swordplay, occasionally casting the Quen sign to shield himself and Aard to blast foes away in pure synchronicity. This season marks Cavill’s final stint as the monster hunter before Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games) takes over from season 4 onwards. The Witcher season 3 Vol. 1 releases July 29 on Netflix.

Squid Game season 2 cast announcement

We still don’t know much about how Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-Jae) plans to exact his revenge on the Front Man and his organisation that was responsible for the deaths of 455 players who participated in a series of life-threatening games for the big pot of money. Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has been quite secretive about the second season of Squid Game but has revealed four new faces that would be joining the new cast – Yim Si-Wan, Kang Ha-Neul, Park Sung-Hoon, and Yang Dong-Geun.

Squid Game: The Challenge

The global phenomenon Squid Game was turned into a reality show, with reports of some harsh injuries on set. In the brief first-look clip, we see that the sets from the show were recreated from scratch, including the giant doll from the Red Light, Green Light game. A total of 456 participants from around the world were chosen for the reality spinoff, and they will compete until one victor emerges — winning $4.56 million (about Rs. 33 crore).

All The Light We Cannot See

Based on the award-winning novel by Anthony Doerr, All The Light We Cannot See thrusts two teenagers, Marie-Laure (Aria Mia Loberti) and Werner (Louis Hofmann), against the backdrop of World War II, as they share a secret connection that becomes a beacon of hope during those dark times. Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac) and Hugh Laurie (House) also star in the limited series, which is written by Steven Knight, best known for Peaky Blinders.

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The Flash Speeds Into Sluggish $139 Million Debut at the Global Box Office

The Flash has sped into a sluggish $139 million (about Rs. 1,140 crore) opening at the global box office just shy of Black Adam’s opening weekend, which stood at $140 million (about Rs. 1,148 crore). Marking the reset point that ushers in James Gunn’s revamped DC Universe, the film is reportedly performing worse than projections, earning merely $64 million (about Rs. 525 crore) from within the US and Canada. From everywhere else in the world, the film collected $75 million (about Rs. 615 crore), below the predicted $85–$95 million margin.

Several factors might have played into this, mainly surrounding its lead Ezra Miller who was largely barred from appearing in The Flash’s publicity campaigns, following his run-ins with the law in 2022. Around that time, Warner Bros. concocted three release scenarios for the film, with the studio even considering scrapping the $200 million (about Rs. 1,639 crore) movie if the actor refused to seek help or cooperate. Reshooting the same film with a different actor would’ve also been impossible, since there are two versions of Barry Allen in the film, with his face present in almost every scene. Therefore, much of the marketing was done with Sasha Calle, who plays Supergirl in The Flash.

Meanwhile, its director Andy Mushietti confirmed that Miller will continue playing the Scarlet Speedster, as long as he is involved in the superhero franchise. In case a sequel is greenlit, he wants Miller back, saying: “I don’t think there’s anyone that can play that character as well as they did. The other depictions of the character are great, but this particular vision of the character, they just excelled in doing it,” in an interview. Even ignoring that The Flash does not have a star of Dwayne Johnson’s stature for marketing purposes (Black Adam), the film had one thing in common with other recently successful films — multiverse-hopping shenanigans.

Everything Everywhere All At Once is the first thing that comes to mind, lifting the Oscar award earlier this year, for Best Picture. From the superhero realm, we’ve seen back-to-back wins from Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and more recently, Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse.

With the aforementioned figures, the DC Extended Universe continues to underperform. As per Deadline, China took the top spot, earning The Flash an estimated $13.8 million (about Rs. 113 crore), which is still lower than the expected traffic. Following next is Mexico with $9.4 million (about Rs. 77 crore), while the UK added another $5.3 million (about Rs. 43 crore) to the pot. Korea came in fourth, making $3.8 million (about Rs. 31 crore), closely followed by Brazil with $3.5 million (about Rs. 29 crore). The film has a fairly clear runway until the end of June, which brings Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny to theatres.

Hopefully, Gunn’s revamped DC Universe finds the right footing and propels the franchise back into profit. Just last week, he hired The Flash’s director Muschietti to direct the new Batman movie, The Brave and the Bold, which brings Damian Wayne/ Robin into the mix.

The Flash is now showing in theatres worldwide.

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Barbie Could Dominate in Early Box Office Standings Against Bout With Oppenheimer: Report

Early box office tracking for the two biggest movies of the year — Barbie and Oppenheimer — suggest that the pink, live-action doll movie would be stealing the show. As per The Hollywood Reporter’s sources which have tracked various polling services, the Christopher Nolan film was initially the favourite, but things soon turned in Barbie’s favour as it became a social media phenomenon, thanks to its ensemble cast, internet memes, and outrageous reports of them causing a pink paint shortage. Both films are budgeted at roughly $100 million (about Rs. 819 crore) as well, which makes this clash all the more exciting.

In recent years, production studios have intentionally steered clear of having their films’ release dates clash with each other, as a means to maximise ticket sales. Some would even go as far as shifting them around — Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two is a solid example of this, having brought forward its release date by two weeks to avoid direct competition with The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which is set for November 17. So you can see why the prospect of Barbie vs Oppenheimer would have fans excited. Even more so, considering the background drama between director Nolan and Warner Bros.

It’s not uncommon for Nolan to pick an American Summer release window for his movies, with Oppenheimer following suit on July 21. As per THR, Warner Bros. originally planned for John Cena’s Coyote vs. Acme to drop around that time, only for it to then pull the film out of the calendar and replace it with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie instead. Rumours surrounding the subject claim that it was a deliberate move by Warner Bros. out of spite, to mess with Nolan’s release. Back in late 2020, Warner Bros. announced that it would release its entire 2021 slate of films simultaneously in theatres and HBO Max. Nolan, who was appalled at that decision, called HBO Max the ‘worst streaming service’ and chose to part ways with Warner Bros. — ending a two-decade-long partnership. His film Oppenheimer was then shopped around to several studios until Universal Pictures stepped in to distribute it.

However, recent reports somewhat dispute this theory of WB trying to sabotage Universal, with Warner Bros. Pictures co-CEO Michael De Luca confirming that they have been trying to mend their relationship with Nolan and bring him back into the fold. In fact, some sources familiar with the situation claimed that Nolan received a seven-figure royalty cheque for his work on Tenet, and he even did some post-production work for Oppenheimer at WB. The box office numbers for the film against Barbie will be interesting to track, for if Oppenheimer turns over a huge profit, Universal Pictures might try to hold onto Nolan and give him all the budget and resources he needs for the future. It’s a battle between studios as well.

The competition between the two movies has inspired several memes, with people online comparing the stark contrast in tones, with Oppenheimer boasting a gritty look (some scenes are even shot in monochrome), focussing on the obsessive father of the atomic bomb. Meanwhile, Barbie is bright pink and cheerful, with everyone’s go-to silent protagonist/ ‘literally me’ actor Ryan Gosling sporting a uniquely goofy appearance. Adding fuel to the flame is Tom Cruise, who is reportedly upset that both Barbie and Oppenheimer have booked most of the IMAX screens in July, essentially sabotaging his Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One film, which is out a week prior on July 12. Yep, there’s a third competitor and its box office revenue is bound to be impacted by the other two films. July is shaping up to be an interesting month for blockbuster movies, in terms of both on and off-screen drama.

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Sony Locks Dates for Two Untitled Marvel Movies for 2024 and 2025

Sony Pictures has locked dates for two untitled Marvel movies in the coming years. One of them is labelled ‘untitled Sony/Marvel,’ slated to release November 8, 2024, while the other is marked as ‘untitled Sony/Marvel live-action,’ on track for June 27, 2025. For now, it’s up for speculation what these movies could be, but Venom 3 and the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man 4 are among the top candidates. It’s also worth noting that the former slot does not specify a live-action format, so it could mean that Sony is planning more animated projects after the successful Spider-Verse movies.

The first Sony/Marvel movie — set for November 8 — has a clear runway for two weeks, after which it will compete with Paramount’s Gladiator sequel on November 22, 2024. Meanwhile, the second entry will be in direct competition with Dwayne Johnson’s live-action Moana movie on June 27, 2025 — the latter was recently moved up by a week in Disney’s calendar shake-up. Going by recent rumours of a Halloween release window, the first slot could also be filled by Venom 3, whose star Juno Temple (Ted Lasso) confirmed in a recent interview that filming was scheduled to start ‘very, very soon’. Taking the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike into account which is delaying production, this seems like a fair assumption.

It’s clear that Sony is looking to expand its Spider-Man universe, even transporting Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock/ Venom into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, during a mid-credits scene in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The studio has multiple storylines in the works with solid release dates: the Aaron Taylor-Johnson-led Kraven the Hunter (October 6), Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse (March 29, 2024), Bad Bunny’s El Muerto (January 12, 2024), and Madame Web (February 16, 2024) starring Dakota Johnson in the lead. Reports from earlier this year also confirmed some Spider-Man live-action TV series to be in development, including Spider-Man Noir and Silk: Spider Society. They will be available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video in the future.

Moreover, producer Amy Pascal confirmed recently that the fourth Spider-Man film with Holland and Zendaya has paused development due to the writers’ strike. “Are we going to make another movie? Of course, we are,” she told Variety, late last month. “We’re in the process, but with the writers’ strike, nobody is working during the strike. We’re all being supporters and whenever they get themselves together, we’ll get started.” Its lead Holland is already eight months into his one-year break from acting, so if the strike ends within the next couple of months, the timing for his return couldn’t be more appropriate. Finally, let’s not ignore the live-action Miles Morales film that’s already in the works at Sony Pictures — coming off the heels of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’s successful release, which surpassed its prequel Into the Spider-Verse’s total gross within just 12 days. The sequel has earned $412.5 million (about Rs. 3,378 crore) at the global box office.

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NBCUniversal and JioCinema Strike Partnership to Bring Peacock Content to the Indian Streaming Platform

All NBCUniversal content will soon be available to stream on JioCinema. Reliance’s Viacom18 and NBCU announced a multi-year partnership on Monday, which goes into effect next month — June 2023 — with JioCinema serving as the destination for Universal’s catalogue of movies and TV series in India. The programming will be available on a Peacock ‘branded hub,’ accessible to those who are subscribed to JioCinema’s new Premium SVOD tier. The plan is worth Rs. 999 annually and went live just earlier this month as the streamer brought select HBO content to the platform.

It will be interesting to see how the new Peacock/ NBCUniversal hub is fashioned, given the current HBO one does not have any proper branding and its content is simply listed haphazardly under the Premium section. It’s even harder finding HBO content from the homepage, where it gets categories under generic titles such as ‘Hollywood’s Finest’ and ‘Critically Acclaimed’ — lost amongst all the Indian content JioCinema has to offer. At launch, JioCinema has promised iconic films such as the uber-creative Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, the sci-fi horror M3GAN, the Jurassic franchise, the Shrek movies, and more.

The announcement also mentions new releases such as Fast X and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, alongside Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Oppenheimer movie, all expected to come to the streaming platform in the future.

Similar promises were made during the HBO deal, but as May came around, JioCinema’s Premium catalogue missed a bunch of titles including Peacemaker and Euphoria — they’re still missing to this date. I’d recommend taking these content promises with a sceptical attitude — or rather, waiting until people online give initial impressions, or you see these in the catalogue for yourself.

The NBCUniversal portfolio includes content from brands such as Universal Television, UCP, Universal International Studios, Sky Studios, DreamWorks Animation, Universal Pictures, Focus Features, and more. Comedies from NBCU’s vast library such as The Office, Suits, Downtown Abbey, and Parks and Recreation are also part of the deal. Some of those shows, specifically Steve Carell-led The Office and the Michelle Dockery-led Downton Abbey, are currently available to stream on Prime Video as well, so for now, it’s unclear whether they will soon disappear from Amazon’s streaming platform.

Peacock Original series such as the Bel-Air reimagining, Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin, and The Calling, the investigative drama from Emmy award-winner David E. Kelley are also among the offerings here. Fans of reality television are also in for a treat, starting with popular shows such as The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Family Karma, which follows seven Indian-American friends who try to balance the Miami lifestyle with their traditional upbringings.

“This partnership leverages JioCinema’s reach and expertise to introduce Indian audiences to the Peacock brand and NBCU’s portfolio, while JioCinema cements its position as the largest OTT service in the market, now reinforced by an unprecedented volume of best-in-class films and series from NBCU,” the announcement concludes. Hopefully, the addition of NBCUniversal content to JioCinema also comes with a full-blown interface update that makes it easier to navigate the content you want, in addition to personalised settings such as subtitle size, a resume playback option, and the ability to downvote titles you aren’t interested in — akin to Netflix.

Currently, there is no concrete date for accessing NBCUniversal content on JioCinema. Pricing for the premium plan is set at Rs. 999, which would also include other Premium content such as HBO’s offerings.

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