Arnold Schwarzenegger Describes The Brutal Death Scene That Would've Earned Commando An X Rating

Arnold Schwarzenegger Describes The Brutal Death Scene That Would've Earned Commando An X Rating

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s output during the 1980s was legendary. The A-list action superstar cranked out a series of memorable thrillers in that particular decade, from The Terminator (1984) to Predator (1987). But none were quite as violent as 1985’s Commando, which cast Schwarzenegger as a retired Special Forces colonel fighting to rescue his kidnapped daughter (played by Alyssa Milano).

There were a number of incredibly graphic kills in Commando, including one scene where Arnold throws a pipe through a guy’s chest and INTO a steam pipe. Naturally, Schwarzenegger buttons the scene up by telling the guy to “Let off some steam!” It’s brilliant. But in a Reddit session today following the drop of the new Terminator: Dark Fate trailer, Schwarzenegger revealed a kill scene that he wanted to do in Commando, but it got shot down.

He said:

I wanted to cut off a guy’s arm and kill him with it. This wasn’t in the script. He would throw a knife at me, and after he missed, while his arm was still extended, I chop it off at the shoulder with a machete and beat him to death with it. Needless to say, I was asked by the head of the studio, Larry Gordon, to come to his office. And he said ‘What the fuck is the matter with you? Do you want to make money with this movie, or [be] an X-rated movie?’ I said, ‘You’re right.’ And he said, ‘Get the fuck out of my office.’

Hard to argue with the studio head not wanting to see Arnold Schwarzenegger sever a man’s arm, and then beat him to death with it. There are limits in an R-rated studio movie, even one that has the incredible death scene like the one below:

He’s dead tired! God, Arnold’s one-liner game was on point in Commando! It kind of had to be, because the plot of Commando was kind of a hot mess, with Arnold getting out of deadly jams using his brawn instead of his brain, and leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake.

This was peak Schwarzenegger. He would transition from Commando to Raw Deal, Predator, The Running Man and Red Heat before tapping into his comedic side for movies like Twins (1988), Kindergarten Cop (1990) and Last Action Hero (1993).

Part of me is really happy that, back in the Commando days, Arnold was looking for new ways to increase the gratuitous violence in his movies, that might have made them more C-list, but also more cult-movie in tone. But then again, if that studio head had allowed it, Schwarzenegger might never have become the major movie star that he continues to be to this day.

Arnold will be back on screen later this year with Tim Miller’s Terminator: Dark Fate. Look for it in theaters on November 1.

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Stuber Trailer Has Dave Bautista And Kumail Nanjiani On A Funny, Wild Ride

Stuber Trailer Has Dave Bautista And Kumail Nanjiani On A Funny, Wild Ride

While Dave Bautista is an actor clearly physically built for action movies, the guy has also proven that he has real comedic chops. Some of the funniest moments from the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies have Drax at the center, and while he didn't exactly spit out endless zingers in movies like Spectre and Blade Runner 2049, it was really only a matter of time before he took on a big studio comedy. Now we're finally seeing that project in the form of Michael Dowse's Stuber, and what makes things even better is that it's a buddy cop pairing that has him teamed up with the amazing Kumail Nanjiani. Check out the first full trailer for the movie below!

Based on an original screenplay by Tripper Clancy, Stuber centers on an Uber driver named Stu (get it?) who finds himself in a bizarre and dangerous situation when his car is hired by a tough-as-nails cop, Vic, on a mission. Not being the bravest individual, it's not a circumstance that Stu is really prepared for, and things only get worse and worse as the danger escalates.

Interestingly, this has been a rather crazy week for both Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani. In the case of the former, not only is Stuber his second trailer of the week following My Spy, but we also recently got the news that he has joined the cast of Zack Snyder's upcoming Army Of The Dead. As for the latter, we learned just a few days ago that he has joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as he will be starring opposite Angelina Jolie in Chloe Zhao's The Eternals; plus he was front and center in the first episode of the revamped The Twilight Zone on CBS All Access. Both of these dudes are seeing their careers heat up in a big way right now, and it's exciting that we will be getting to see them in a new comedy together.

What's surprising, though, is that Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani aren't the only big names featured in Stuber - they just happen to be the ones primarily featured in this trailer. Natalie Morales, known for her work on The Grinder and Santa Clarita Diet, briefly appears, but this is a cast that also includes the likes of Karen Gillan, Betty Gilpin, Iko Uwais, Mira Sorvino, and Jimmy Tatro. It's possible that they aren't featured in the footage because their roles might be too spoilery, but no matter what the case is, hopefully it means that there are a lot of surprises in store when the film arrives in theaters.

Stuber just had its world premiere last month at the SXSW Film Festival, and is set up to be one of this summer's big comedies. The film is currently scheduled for release on July 12th, and hopefully between now and then we'll also be treated to a red band trailer.

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Oscar Isaac Hints That C-3PO Will Have A Larger Role In Star Wars Episode IX

Oscar Isaac Hints That C-3PO Will Have A Larger Role In Star Wars Episode IX

The past few years have been a very exciting time to be a Star Wars fan. Once Disney acquired Lucasfilm, the studio started pumping out new and exciting installments to the galaxy far, far away. 2019 will be no exception, although the stakes for the upcoming release of J.J. Abrams' Episode IX are exceedingly high. Because in addition to ending the current trilogy, the next blockbuster will also wrap up the Skywalker Saga forever.

J.J. Abrams will have to bring nine movies and decades of filmmaking to a satisfying conclusion while also servicing all the beloved characters one last time. Some of the original heroes have been regulated to the background during the current trilogy, including Lando Calrissian, R2-D2, and C-3PO. The latter will be played by Anthony Daniels for his final run as the droid. And Oscar Isaac recently teased that 3PO will have more to do in the new movie, saying:

He was super emotional about it. And hanging up the golden cowl. And I think, really, and I mean this, this time he kept saying like, this is the most fun he had. Cause he has, actually, you know, had so much fun things to do, and we got to work a lot together. And yeah, it was amazing to see that, to see that piece of history close.

Well, this is exciting. While C-3PO has been a tertiary presence in the past few Star Wars movies, it looks like Episode IX will bring the chrome dome back to the forefront, and involved in the film's main narrative. And he'll be sharing some scenes with Poe Dameron in the upcoming sequel.

Oscar Isaac's comments come from his recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he was publicizing his new Netflix movie Triple Frontier. When chatting with Jimmy Fallon, Isaac spoke to wrapping Episode IX, and what an emotional experience it was for everyone-- especially Anthony Daniels. He's been with the franchise since A New Hope, so his final bow has been decades in the making.

Star Wars fans will be very happy to hear that C-3PO will have a meatier role in Episode IX, as he's been mostly absent from the two most recent additions to the franchise. 3PO is usually seen with the Resistance forces and General Leia, as he worries and gives the good guys plenty of bad news and bad odds for their victory.

C-3PO had arguably a bigger role in The Force Awakens, including the debut of his mysterious red arm. But when Rian Johnson took over for The Last Jedi, 3PO was kept in the background. But now that J.J. Abrams has returned to the director's chair, it looks like he's making up for lost time and putting the droid back in the spotlight.

All will be revealed when Episode IX arrives in theaters on December 20th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

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Has Anyone Seen The Ending To Avengers: Endgame Yet? Here's What The Russos Say

Has Anyone Seen The Ending To Avengers: Endgame Yet? Here's What The Russos Say

When Avengers: Endgame comes to an end, it will mark not just the ending of a 3-hour film, it will also complete the fight began in Avengers: Infinity War, close out Phase 3 and conclude the 11-year, 22-film Infinity Saga. Needless to say, this is a highly anticipated ending, and that hype is matched only by the secrecy surrounding it. However, some people have already seen the ending to Avengers: Endgame, as the Russo Brothers explained:

Joe Russo: We haven’t told anyone. Certainly people have seen it. We have a lot of technicians who are working on the movie at the end there. There’s a couple of hundred people who have seen the film.

Anthony Russo: But it’s important – look we wouldn’t want to spoil the film for anybody. We love the experience in the theater, you know, and the sense of discovery you have as the movie unfolds. We just try to provide for others what we want for ourselves.

The Russo Brothers are trying to keep the film’s secrets as best as possible, and although they haven’t told anyone the ending to Avengers: Endgame, they are far from the only ones that have seen it. This is to be expected. The Russo Brothers are the directors, but there are a ton of people that need to work on a film, especially one of this magnitude, after the cameras stop rolling.

So while secrecy is paramount, those production realities, especially with the movie so close to its theatrical release, necessitate that other people see the ending to Avengers: Endgame. As Joe Russo told Digital Spy, there are a couple hundred people who have seen the ending to Endgame at this point; a couple hundred people that know how the dusted characters return and who sacrifices themselves to ensure that victory.

That might sound like a lot, but there is no way for this film to be complete and have an ending without some people working on that ending. Those lucky technicians putting the finishing touches on the ending also had the pleasure of seeing that much speculated and theorized-about conclusion before any of us. That early look seems like a fair trade off for their hard work and secrecy.

Nevertheless, as Anthony Russo added, the directors really want audiences to go in and enjoy Avengers: Endgame unspoiled. The Russo Brothers love sitting in a theater and being surprised like the rest of us and they want to preserve that pure experience for audiences as much as possible. It’s important to them that this movie, that they have worked so hard on for so long, is able to surprise and thrill audiences in the way it was meant to.

Therefore, I imagine Marvel and the Russos have kept the circle of trust as small as they could, which I expect means that Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo have not yet had the privilege of seeing Avengers: Endgame. But even the secrets that the actors do know have been quite stressful to keep, as Scarlett Johansson recently lamented. It’s one thing to keep a secret between friends, it's another entirely for a massive film with a budget in the hundreds of millions and people constantly asking and trying to trick you into revealing its mysteries.

You can find out for yourself how Avengers: Endgame ends when it opens on April 26. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see this and all the biggest movies headed your way this year.

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Why The Intruder Also Doubles As A Comedy Between Its Thrills

Why The Intruder Also Doubles As A Comedy Between Its Thrills

The horror genre isn’t what it once was. While there were boxes it may have needed to check before, when you walk into the theater for thrills, you can expect the unexpected. Get Out offered audiences frights about race relations and Happy Death Day 2U was a Back To the Future-esque ride.

Deon Taylor’s The Intruder may offer moviegoers more comedic beats then one might expect from a creepy tale about a couple who becomes entangled in the grip Dennis Quaid’s Charlie Peck has on his longtime home shortly after selling it to them. Audiences might be a shocked at how much humor can be found amidst the chills and jump-scares.

During a recent Los Angeles press day for The Intruder, I asked director Deon Taylor about how these comedic moments found a place in the movie. Here’s what he said:

I think it has a lot to do with my DNA as a filmmaker. I really like laughing, I love funny things, I love humor and I think a lot of times when there is a lot of pain, there’s also a lot of humor. When we were making the movie, I think the humanity of it: flawed characters, argumentative moments, playing the fun side of Charlie Peck in the first two acts. Because you don’t really take him serious until you start going ‘wait a minute, he’s actually really scary. He’s a creepy dude.’ It gives you a really good playing field for fun and (the cast) takes advantage of it.

The director has tackled a balance between comedy and horror before in his 2016 film Meet the Blacks, so it makes sense he’d want to move some of the fun over to his latest project. Warming up the film with humor in the beginning to break the tension before bringing on the intense chills is a smart move, and it looks like it came naturally for the filmmaker.

It also helped that he had Michael Ealy and Meagan Good on board, who had previously starred together in Think Like a Man. Ealy told CinemaBlend about how their ties infused some humor on set:

I think our relationship prior to this movie enabled me to actually feel comfortable to improvise certain jokes and throw out certain things and to be snarky, vulnerable and be the actual Scott character. That was key for me and Meagan was helpful because she’s silly and off camera we were constantly clowning each other.

Take a look at the exclusive interview below:

The Intruder premiered Thursday night in theaters alongside Long Shot and UglyDolls and topped numbers among the newcomers, per Variety. The title is a contender to fight for the top spot at the box office this weekend under the reigning success Avengers: Endgame will certainly find in its second weekend in theaters. Stay tuned with CinemaBlend to see how it all goes down.

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The Fast And Furious Franchise Has Fired Its Longtime Producer

The Fast And Furious Franchise Has Fired Its Longtime Producer

Ever since the Fast and Furious franchise launched in 2001, Neal H. Moritz has been working on it as a producer, but that nearly two decade-long tenure has come to an abrupt end. Rather than Moritz deciding to leave the car and explosion-filled series of movies on his own terms, he’s been fired due to a legal dispute with Universal Pictures.

Last October, it was reported that Neal Moritz filed a lawsuit against Universal, alleging that the studio was in breach of oral contract and committed promissory fraud when it removed him as the lead producer on the upcoming Fast and Furious spinoff, Hobbs and Shaw. He demanded he be reinstated as lead producer or be paid “tens of millions of dollars in damages in lost compensation.”

Seven months later, the news has come out that not only has Neal Moritz been dropped from Hobbs and Shaw, but he’s also been removed from all future Fast and Furious movies, starting with Fast and Furious 9, which begins shooting in a few weeks. Because Moritz has a pay-or-play deal, Universal will still need to compensate on the Fast and Furious movies, but evidently that’s a better course of action than keeping him around, both financially and mentally.

Universal’s stance is that Neal Moritz is not entitled to be a producer on Hobbs and Shaw, while Moritz says he had an oral agreement with the studio’s president, Jimmy Horowitz, to produce the spinoff and was working on it up until he was dropped from it right before principal photography kicked off. Moritz also claims that he came up with the idea for Hobbs and Shaw with screenwriter Chris Morgan and spent months developing it.

So where did everything go wrong? According to a “studio insider” who spoke with The Hollywood Reporter, Universal tried to work out a deal with Neal Moritz, but due to a “a long, torturous history” with fighting him on every previous Fast and Furious movie, the studio got sick of his combative behavior.

Because Universal is trying to expand the Fast and Furious franchise into more of a cinematic universe, as well as Hobbs and Shaw’s budget growing before production, the studio asked the franchise’s top talent to contribute to a “pool” that would allow Universal to break even before others were cut in on the profit. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was among those willing to play ball, but Moritz reportedly instead “wound up for his usual game of hardball.”

As for why Universal decided to kick Neal Moritz off all future Fast and Furious movies, that came about when he named Jimmy Horowitz in his lawsuit. While it’s unclear what the thought process that the studio’s bigwigs had after that, evidently there was incentive enough for them to toss Moritz out.

With Hobbs and Shaw hitting theaters this summer, two more main Fast and Furious movies on the way and a female-centric spinoff in the works, obviously this blockbuster franchise is sticking around for the foreseeable future. Still, considering how involved Neal Moritz was from the start, this definitely marks the end of an era.

We’ll see how the Fast and Furious franchise’s first foray into spinoff territory goes when Hobbs and Shaw comes out in theaters on August 2, and Fast and Furious 9 will follow on May 22, 2020.

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Avengers: Endgame Rumors That Turned Out To Be True

Avengers: Endgame Rumors That Turned Out To Be True

Warning: spoilers for Avengers: Endgame are in play. If you haven’t seen the film yet, use the Time Stone to rewind and see the film before reading this piece. And if you have seen the film, please make sure not to spoil the Endgame for those who haven’t made it out yet.

Readers, it’s time to take a big, deep breath. We made it through Avengers: Endgame, and now we know where the path has led us. All secrets are revealed, tears have been shed, and the foundation to the future has been laid out.

But most importantly, the biggest theories circulating on the internet before the film’s release have now been either proven or disproven. So while your friends are processing the results of their death pools, and you’re recovering from the emotional highs and lows that filled Avengers: Endgame, it’s a good time to look at those theories and see who obviously had Pym Particles in their suits. Anyone who made the following guesses before seeing Avengers: Endgame is either a great guesser, a time traveler, or a Marvel Studios employee.

Hawkeye’s Family Disappeared, Spurring Him To Become Ronin

Right out of the gate, one pretty big theory was proven to be A-#1 accurate. As the trailers had teased, and anyone who saw Avengers: Infinity War had guessed, there was a good reason for Hawkeye to return after being absent in that first half of the combined story Avengers: Endgame closed off.

As we saw at the beginning of the film, the Barton clan disappeared in their own individual dust clouds, one by one, leaving Clint alone with all of the hot dogs he could ever want to eat. Of course, not wanting those hot dogs more than he wanted his family back, he went dark and became Ronin, a vigilante that we saw killing up a ton of Yakuza.

There Was A Five Year Time Jump

What do you do when you go on a quest to avenge your friends, and the guy that killed them wastes the Infinity Stones he used to do the job? If you’re Thor, you behead the beast in a fit of anger. If you’re Avengers: Endgame, you cut to black and flash the words “Five Years Later” on the screen, real slow like.

Folks had called out the possibility that there would be a jump in time, and they flagged that call correctly. And as it turns out, the casting involving Scott Lang’s daughter Cassie was exactly the clue that tipped fans off to that very possibility, and now proven theory.

Bruce Banner and The Hulk Became One Entity

The fact that The Hulk was as small a part of Avengers: Infinity War as he was had fans wondering what exactly happened to the large, green rage monster that everybody knew and loved. Scared away by Thanos, it was only a matter of time until he came back, and some thought that rather than splitting apart into two entities or going back to business as usual, a happy medium would be struck.

And it was indeed a happy outcome, as a sort of crossroads Hulk appeared in Avengers: Endgame. We finally saw Bruce and The Hulk in a state of co-existence, where the brains of Banner met the brawn of Hulk, in a mid-sized package that was very selfie ready. It took them a while, but both halves of the Banner package became a workable unit.

Time Travel Played A Big Part In The Endgame

One of the biggest theories to come out of the pre-release scrum of Avengers: Endgame press was the usage of time travel. With leaked set photos showing, in the most telling case, Steve Rogers in his Captain America costume from 2012’s The Avengers, there was a lot of speculation that to save the future our heroes would have to go back in time.

Score another one for the fans, as four separate time heists were carried out, with the Battle of New York being one of the most key examples. While it was also theorized that Hank Pym would be brought into the fold through these methods, that theory only gets half credit, as Pym was shown as being duped to leave his Pym Particles unattended in 1970, rather than directly aiding Ant-Man in 1983.

The Quantum Realm Was A Key Element In Said Time Travel

Ant-Man and The Wasp was a fun romp that made Avengers: Infinity War’s dour cliffhanger ending more palatable in the long run. But what it also did was provide the perfect cover for just how everything could be solved, as the exploration of the Quantum Realm opened a lot of temporal doors.

Between the plot of trying to rescue Janet Van Dyne, who was previously lost to the realm herself, and the post-credits sequence seeing Scott Lang trapped for five years in Earth time, we learned that time works differently in the Quantum Realm. So differently, that it’s apparently really easy to guess that it would be used to pull off the biggest time heist ever.

Pepper Potts Got To Become Rescue

This theory wasn’t too hard of a sell, considering the evidence that supported it. As you’ll remember, Gwyneth Paltrow showed off some photos of herself during the filming of Avengers: Endgame, sporting a classic mo-cap tennis ball suit. So obviously, there was one pretty good reason why Ms. Potts would be wearing such gear in her time on set.

It also wasn’t that hard of a theory to cook up considering not only did Pepper previously wear a suit for a brief spell in Iron Man 3, but her role in Tony’s life was even greater than ever. So if Tony trusted anyone to accept/use a suit of iron responsibly, it was his wife.

Tony Stark Died A Hero’s Death

Speaking of Tony, a late phase sentiment swept the fandom, thinking that Iron Man himself was on borrowed time. With Robert Downey Jr. himself promising a huge finale, and his time as the character looking like it was going to be drawing to a close, the audience wasn’t feeling so good about Mr. Stark’s chances in Avengers: Endgame.

Sure enough, the 55% of readers that thought Tony was going to go to the great beyond were correct. Dying the most heroic death possible, he got control of the Infinity Gauntlet, cracked off the perfect one-liner, and set the universe in order for good. Sometimes, being right sucks.

Steve Rogers Finally Went Back To The Past

Captain America’s origin story is a bittersweet tale. While the world gained a stalwart fighter for truth and freedom, he lost an entire life that could have been in the process. But with time travel in play, there was always a thought about Steve Rogers going back in time to have that dance with Peggy.

And as you could see through all of the tears in your eyes, Steve went back after returning those Infinity Stones to the past, and did just that. Coming back as Old Man Rogers, Steve admitted to a life that was full of happiness. While he wouldn’t speak on the exact circumstances when pressed by Sam Wilson, Steve did give his Falcon buddy something even better.

Falcon Is The New Captain America

As Chris Evans was also one of the original six Avengers team to be rumored as leaving, the line of succession was a burning question. While the comics originally had Bucky Barnes taking over as the new Captain America, a recent run introduced Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, as the Star Spangled Man of today.

While both guesses seemed pretty valid, Sam had the edge of being the more recent replacement in the source books, as well as striking a blow in the name of progressive representation on screen. Anthony Mackie looks good with the shield, and the approving nod of Sebastian Stan’s Bucky in Avengers: Endgame is all anyone should need to see how good of an idea this truly is.

There Was No End Credits Scene

Perhaps the latest, and most interesting theory, came out of the Avengers: Endgame premiere. While the credits were cut off during appearances from the cast of the film, it was initially reported that there may be no end credits scene. This only intensified as the press screenings held last week had no scene attached to them, though this had happened previously in Marvel Cinematic Universe history when 2012’s The Avengers added that shawarma stinger for public release.

But sure enough, there was an absence of any sort of tease for the future. Instead, the world got an audio cue of a hammer striking iron, symbolizing the closing of a story arc, and the opening of the future.

These theories, above all others, proved to make Avengers: Endgame a film that lived up to fan expectations, while also exceeding them. And ultimately, that’s the name of the game when delivering a film such as this to the masses. With just the right blend of surprising twists, but foreseeable developments, you can close the book in a proper, satisfying manner.

See for yourself if Avengers: Endgame met your expectations, and defied some of your best fan theories, as it’s currently unfurling in theaters with a record breaking debut.

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