Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Director Has Big Ideas For What Happens Right After His Movie Ends

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Director Has Big Ideas For What Happens Right After His Movie Ends

Warning: SPOILERS for Godzilla: King of the Monsters are ahead!

The general public wasn’t aware that the Titans existed before the events of Godzilla, but the giant reptile’s clash with the MUTOs changed everything. Five years later, Godzilla’s collision with Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah in Godzilla: King of the Monsters resulted in even more destruction across the world, and now the public is fully in the loop on these beasts since Monarch shared the information it’d collected about them over the decades.

So how does humanity go forward from here? Obviously we’re not done with Titan fights by a long shot, as Godzilla vs. Kong is less than a year away. But in terms of the overall status quo, Godzilla: King of the Monsters director Michael Dougherty told CinemaBlend’s own Jeff McCobb that the population will need to heed the late Dr. Ishiro Serizawa’s (played by Ken Watanabe) advice and make peace with the Titans’ existence. As Dougherty put it:

I feel like humans have no choice but to live by Serizawa’s words, which is that we have to learn how to coexist with the Titans. Now that the genie’s out of the bottle, we have no choice but to accept the fact that mankind is no longer at the top of the food chain.

During Godzilla: King of the Monsters, there was a debate over whether it was better to learn to coexist with the Titans or if we were better off killing them. The U.S. government certainly tried its best to kill both Godzilla and King Ghidorah with its Oxygen Destroyer, but the weapon only seriously harmed Godzilla, with King Ghidorah barely being fazed.

Had Dr. Ishiro Serizawa not sacrificed his life to revive Godzilla so that the reptile could defeat his arch-nemesis once and for all, Earth would be destroyed. So as Thomas Middleditch’s character, Sam Coleman, mentioned early in the movie, there are some Titans that are here to help us, and some that are here to threatens us. It’s great to learn which is which, but humanity now needs to learn that the beasts have been here longer than us and are here to stay.

Judging by the Godzilla: King of the Monsters credits, it looks like a lot of folks are getting used to this. Along with Monarch publishing all its research, it was also revealed that some cruise ships have passed by Godzilla himself, prehistoric plants are popping up that some consider to be “superfood,” and Earth is starting to be healed thanks to the Titans no longer being influenced by King Ghidorah, who wasn’t even native to our world.

Still, that doesn’t mean that everything is all fine and dandy in the MonsterVerse now that King Ghidorah is gone. It was also noted in the Godzilla: King of the Monsters credits that Skull Island has started to become unstable, with many new Titans setting up shop there, which will undoubtedly not sit well with the island’s ruler, King Kong.

This sets the stage for Godzilla vs. Kong, which will see these two behemoths clash for the first time in an American production. While their battle will be the main draw, the fourth MonsterVerse entry will also show Monarch delving into the Titans’ origins and a conspiracy to wipe out these creatures being uncovered.

You can listen to Michael Dougherty’s full remarks about the post-Godzilla: King of the Monsters MonsterVerse in the video below.

Be sure to read CinemaBlend’s review of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and stay tuned for coverage on Godzilla vs. Kong, which hits theaters on March 13, 2020.

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X-Men: Dark Phoenix International Trailer Finally Shows Us Some Cool Space Action

X-Men: Dark Phoenix International Trailer Finally Shows Us Some Cool Space Action

Thus far, the marketing for Simon Kinberg's Dark Phoenix hasn't exactly been top notch. Only two domestic trailers have been released so far, and more than anything they've brought back unfortunate memories of X-Men: The Last Stand (a.k.a. the last time this storyline was adapted). Not much has been done to show the unique elements of the new release, but fortunately we have this fresh international package filled with new footage:

It's not uncommon for there to be differences between domestic and international trailers, as we just saw another example of this a couple months ago with Jon Watt's Spider-Man: Far From Home. The difference here is that this look at Dark Phoenix is way better than the previous trailers we've seen. This is partially because of certain small details that are included, but primarily because this actually gives us a legitimate look at the X-Men's first big screen space adventure.

Previous previews have given us dribs and drabs of what to expect when the X-Men travel beyond Earth's atmosphere, but this is the first Dark Phoenix trailer to actually dedicate a significant chunk of time to the subject. Everyone aware of the movie knows it's coming, and it's expected that the incident will happen in the first act, and now we finally have a better idea of what to expect. There is a 20 second stretch in this new look that sums the whole thing up rather nicely: the X-Men travel into space to help during an emergency, however, things don't go exactly as planned, and Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) gets left behind after all of the astronauts from a space station are rescued. There is a massive burst of cosmic energy that Jean seems to absorb, and while she should be dead, she instead is able to travel with the team back down to Earth. It looks surprisingly great, and it has us wondering why the marketing has kept it hidden for the most part so far.

Alongside the extended space material, this Dark Phoenix international trailer also offers some familiar stuff - such as the incident with young Jean Grey and her parents, as well as the big train lift at the end, but there is also some other cool stuff peppered in as well. For example, we're apparently getting some form of new Quicksilver sequence, as Evan Peter's character can be seen charging at Phoenix in "slow motion," and there's a bit more of Jessica Chastain's mystery character doing her very best to manipulate the extraordinarily powerful titular mutant. There is also once again heavy suggestion that the film will be the end of the line for Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique - but it's actually less obvious here than it is in the spot from last week.

This is arguably our most intriguing look at Dark Phoenix, and despite numerous past delays, we are now getting legitimately close to actually seeing the thing. Co-starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, and Kodi Smit-McPhee in addition to all the names mentioned earlier, the film will be arriving in theaters on June 7th.

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Avengers: Infinity War’s Writer Knows Captain America Didn’t Get Enough Lines

Avengers: Infinity War’s Writer Knows Captain America Didn’t Get Enough Lines

It's an extremely exciting time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After a long year of waiting and theorizing, Avengers: Endgame will arrive in theaters in a matter of days. While the MCU helped satiate the rabid fanbase with the releases of Ant-Man and The Wasp and Captain Marvel, all eyes are on what The Russo Brothers will do with the final installment in Phase Three. Especially with the OG Avengers coming to the end of their contracts.

The original members of the team all miraculously survived Thanos' snap of death (aka The Decimation), allowing the original actors to take larger roles in Avengers: Endgame. This includes Chris Evans' Captain America, who had a surprisingly small amount of dialogue in the last film. Writer Stephen McFeely recently spoke to Cap's lack of lines in Infinity War, saying:

When I was talking about [Infinity War], I very often said that sometimes we gave ourselves permission to tell more story for a character in Endgame than in Infinity War. Cap’s a great example. People counted Cap’s lines [in Infinity War] and he had like 20. So Cap steps forward, as you can probably tell, pretty dramatically in Endgame. And that’s because we knew some people had more interesting stories after [the Snap] than before it. Cap and Natasha are good examples of that. So I wouldn’t say we shortchange anybody [in Endgame], but part of the reason there are only [13] people on that poster was to go deeper with fewer.

While fans may have been concerned, it looks like Stephen McFeely and co-writer Christopher Markus had a very specific plans for the Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Infinity War and Endgame. So while some heroes may have gotten the short end of the stick in the last film, the scales will even out when Endgame arrives next week.

Stephen McFeely's comments to io9 are sure to make Captain America's many fans very happy. Chris Evans' signature Marvel character is one of the largest presences in the entire MCU, alongside Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man. As such, some moviegoers were disappointed when Cap wasn't that big of a character in Infinity War. He never got to reconnect with Tony, and mostly appeared in action sequences in Edinburgh and Wakanda.

Related: 5 Ways Avengers: Endgame Can Wrap Up Captain America’s Story

But that should change with Endgame, especially once Tony is somehow rescued from being stranded in space with Nebula. Fans have been waiting to see Cap and Iron Man address their differences since Civil War arrived in theaters back in 2016. The duo will have to put their differences behind them if they have a chance at beating Thanos and reversing the snap.

You can actually watch all of Steve Rogers' scenes in Infinity War below. They only add up to a few minutes of screen time.

Poor Cap. There were just too many characters in Avengers: Infinity War to give him the spotlight. But now that half the cast has faded to dust before our eyes, we should expect way more of the First Avenger once Endgame arrives in theaters to unite the survivors.

It should be interesting to see how Captain America's story is wrapped up with Avengers: Endgame. Fans have been theorizing that he might end up dying during the blockbuster, especially as Chris Evans reaches the end of his contract with the studio. Cap has already sacrificed himself for the greater good once, and it would be a full circle moment to see him do it all again.

Answers will come when Avengers: Endgame finally arrives in theaters on April 26th. In the meantime, fill out CinemaBlend's Endgame death pool, and our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

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The 'Crowd Pleaser' Character Toy Story 4 Cut From Its Final Version

The 'Crowd Pleaser' Character Toy Story 4 Cut From Its Final Version

Pixar movies undergo a lot of changes over the course of their development. In the case of Toy Story 4, nearly the entire movie underwent significant story changes. While these sorts of changes are always made in an attempt to make the overall movie better, sometimes story beats and even entire characters that the movie makers love end up getting cut out as a result. Toy Story 4 was no exception.

Last month, when I had a chance to talk to Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley and producers Jonas Rivera and Mark Nielsen, I asked them if they had any particular elements of Toy Story 4 that didn't make the final version of the film that they missed. All three were in total agreement, that one character they all wish they could have kept was a dancing Santa Claus. According to Cooley...

Dancing Santa was pretty great, he was a character [who] didn’t make it. He was in the antique store and was kind of able, in a very unique way, he was kind of an expert on where to go. and the way things were at the [antiques] mall.

If you've seen the trailers for Toy Story 4 then you'll have seen the antiques store location. It's a major new setting for the film where a lot of the action takes place. We also meet a lot of new characters there, like Christina Hendricks' Gabby Gabby and Keanu Reeves' Duke Caboom.

However, one character that we unfortunately won't be meeting is a talking, dancing, Santa Claus character. The idea was clearly a favorite among many at Pixar. In addition to Josh Cooley and the producers, Toy Story production designer Bob Pauley and global technology supervisor Bill Reeves, who have been part of the franchise since the beginning, also mentioned to me that the Santa was a favorite lost character of theirs as well.

Josh Cooley explained what the scene was originally going to look like...

He’s kinda like an informant in a seedy alley. [Bo and Woody] were talking about, ‘Man, it’s dark in this antiques store. It’s pretty intense, everybody seems so desperate.’ And they’d hear, ‘Tis the season for desperation’ and they’d turn around and there’s one of these Santas there. He’s got a little candle that’s up lighting on him. And Woody’s like, ‘Look Santa, we’d need some help’ and all of the sudden he’d start dancing. Jingle Bell Rock is playing. ‘Ah, you set off my motion detector.’ And then he’d go back into, ‘Anyway, like I was saying...’ and there’s still Jungle Bell Rock playing [in the background]. It was a crowd pleaser for sure.

It's clear that the reason everybody liked the Santa was because the jokes were funny, but ultimately, Pixar always wants to focus on the story that is being told, and if a gag gets in the way of that, the gag has to go, no matter how funny it is. Bob Pauly explained to me that this was the problem with the dancing Santa:

It got cut, which is the right thing, because that was a moment when they had it where it was kind of an emotional moment in the movie, where it's about Bo and Woody. Trust [me], it needed to go, it didn't support that.

The good news is that it sounds like enough of the dancing Santa survives that we'll get to see him as part of the deleted scenes on the eventual Toy Story 4 Blu-ray. Until then, we can see the final version of Toy Story 4 on June 21. Tickets for the summer sequel are on sale as we speak, so make sure that you grab your seats to opening weekend, so you'll see the latest adventure with Buzz, Woody and the gang.

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Jimmy Fallon Made Mark Ruffalo Take An Avengers: Endgame Lie Detector Test

Jimmy Fallon Made Mark Ruffalo Take An Avengers: Endgame Lie Detector Test

While nobody likes being spoiled, that doesn't stop fans from getting absolutely obsessive when it comes to wondering what is going to happen in their favorite movie franchises. Avengers: Endgame is set to be the biggest Marvel movie yet and Mark Ruffalo is known to be less than perfect at keeping secrets. However, last night Jimmy Fallon took no chances when he decided to hook the Incredible Hulk himself up to a lie detector. The results were... interesting. Check it out in the clip below.

It seems that every time that Mark Ruffalo is on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the host is ready to grill him for answers one way or another. This time Fallon decided he wanted to have incontrovertible evidence of accuracy. For what it's worth, Fallon does appear to have a legitimate lie detector device on his desk. It certainly looks like the real deal.

Fallon starts by asking if the Hulk is, in fact, a Skrull, a pertinent question coming on the heels of the release of Captain Marvel, which introduced the shape shifting aliens to the MCU. Mark Ruffalo says he can't answer, though the machine claims that he could. Ruffalo also refuses to answer questions about the relationship status of Bruce Banner and Black Widow. He also seemingly reveals that there are secrets in the original trailer that nobody has discovered, by claiming that there are not.

As entertaining as all this is, it was obviously played for comedy and so we can't exactly take any of it to mean anything. It appears the machine was being manipulated for comedic purposes, but even if it wasn't, many of Fallon's questions were asked in such a way that the machine wouldn't read things properly anyway. And does anybody believe Jimmy Fallon actually knows how to hook somebody up to a lie detector?

Mark Ruffalo has been in something of the Marvel doghouse of late, as the guy has a tendency to spill things about the movies, however accidentally. He previously left his phone on and streamed portions of Thor: Ragnarok that he wasn't supposed to. He also actually gave away the emotional ending of Avengers: Infinity War, though luckily his comments only got wide spread play after the fact.

Considering his previous gaffs in the area of spoilers, Mark Ruffalo is probably one of the safer people to put out in public leading into Avengers: Endgame. He's paying that much more attention to every word that he's saying.

All of this took play last night, prior to the release of this morning's brand new trailer. It, like everything else we've seen in the promotions department, tells us remarkably little about what's actually going to happen in Endgame. It also tells us remarkably little about what Mark Ruffalo himself is even going to be doing in the movie.

On the plus side, we have barely more than a month before we'll get all our answers. Avengers: Endgame will be here April 26.

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Triple Frontier Has A Donkey Scene That Was Hilarious To Film

Triple Frontier Has A Donkey Scene That Was Hilarious To Film

In the new Netflix action thriller Triple Frontier, there’s a serious montage of scenes where, as part of said montage, actors Charlie Hunnam and Garrett Hedlund are seen shepherding a couple of donkeys across a river in the South American jungle. So leave it to their animal co-stars to make things interesting when it came time to actually shoot those scenes, as the actors recently spoke with CinemaBlend about a particularly hilarious day on set involving donkeys, water, and bathroom humor. Here’s how the actors described the scenario, when asked what day on set made them most feel like an action hero:

Hunnam: Probably the day we had to swim with the donkeys, right?

[Hunnam and Hedlund break into laughter]

Hunnam: Garrett and I picked the short straw. Or, I guess, in his usual Machiavellian way, J.C. [Chandor] went and asked all of us, independently, if we would be prepared to swim across the length of a swimming pool with a pack of mules. And everybody else said no, apart from, I guess, Garrett and I.

Hedlund: It was more of a fecal matter issue for some of the cast.

While the finished product is a sobering experience, when the heroes at the center of Triple Frontier are at a particularly difficult time in their heist, the story above is anything but. And watching Hunnam and Hedlund laughing it up during the telling of said story only makes the tale that much more interesting.

This is only compounded by the fact that, of course, this story involving animal actors contains a moment where the donkeys involved had to relieve themselves. It's a classic trope in humor that has legs, and for very good reason. At this point, the story gets even more interesting as this old saw gets a new spin through some colorful descriptions from Charlie Hunnam and Garrett Hedlund. The Triple Frontier co-stars elaborated on this story with the following:

Hunnam: Well it was when we got into the pool, and they started defecating all over the place.

Hedlund: The fun thing is, my donkey had to go first, and when a donkey gets in the water, they tend to try and get to the other side…

Hunnam: That’s going to be the name of your biography, ‘My Donkey Had To Go First.’

Hedlund: ...so if a donkey gets in the water, they tend to try and get to the other side as quick as they can. So trying to see Charlie keep up with his donkey, following my donkey, was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen in my life.

It’s certainly not the easiest thing in the world to work with an animal actor on a set such as the one for Triple Frontier. Considering they’re one of the two types of performers that have historically been on the list of collaborators not to work with, you can kind of see why. Just imagining two actors such as Charlie Hunnam and Garrett Hedlund, trying to get through the day of shooting with a donkey that really had to go is enough to break even the most stoic spectator into a fit of laughter.

Of course, describing their humorous reactions to filming this particular stretch of Triple Frontier is one thing. But if you want to watch Hunnam and Hedlund really delight in the reveal of this story, you can see it all for yourself below.

Don't let that story about the donkeys fool you, as the behind the scenes story you've just experienced doesn't sour the Triple Frontier experience at all. If anything, it proves that all involved, particularly Charlie Hunnam and Garrett Hedlund in this specific instance, are total professionals. It takes an extremely focused actor to portray a dramatic scene of crime and consequences, while wading through donkey dung; and this cast passes that test with flying colors.

Triple Frontier is in theaters now, with its Netflix streaming debut set for March 13th.

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Dumbo Is Expected To Have A Big Worldwide Opening Too

Dumbo Is Expected To Have A Big Worldwide Opening Too

Disney has never had trouble making money with the remakes of animated classics. It's the main reason that we're getting three of them this year. However, the level of success can still be quite variable. Beauty and the Beast make a billion dollars while Cinderella made only half a billion. Dumbo may turn out to see numbers on the lower end of that spectrum, but it's still looking like it will have a pretty impressive global opening, as the film is currently tracking to bring in something around $140 million for it's opening weekend.

Dumbo is opening in nearly every territory where it is opening at all by this Friday. That means that this weekend is going to be key to the overall success of the film. It's opening in the U.S. and China, the two biggest box office markets in the world, which means it's pretty much all downhill from here.

The official range for Dumbo's opening weekend, according to Deadline is between $137-$155 million. The U.S. is looking to make up a bit less than half that business as the domestic number currently projected is around $60 million at the low end. It doesn't have much competition for the box office title. No other major wide releases are hitting screens on Friday. Jordan Peele's Us will probably have a solid second weekend, but that movie really isn't competing with Dumbo for audience share.

For comparison, 2015's Cinderella saw a domestic opening weekend of $67 million and ended up grossing $543 million globally. If Dumbo finds itself on the low end of projections, it could end up coming in beneath that number. Still, when your competition is a series of films that have largely made a half billion dollars or more, you can come up short by comparison and still be a massive hit in absolute numbers.

Dumbo is the earliest of the Disney animated films to be given the remake treatment, which is something of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it's had the longest time to become popular to multiple generations. At the same time, it may not resonate with fans in quite the same way as a more modern film simply because of its age.

Of course, the last time Tim Burton directed a Disney remake it was a little film called Alice in Wonderland that made a billion dollars, so who knows? If lightning strikes twice we could see Dumbo become an absolutely massive hit.

Regardless of Dumbo's numbers, it is sure to be a big year for Disney remakes. In just two months we'll see the live-action version of Aladdin, and two months after that we'll get the new version of The Lion King. Those two films are almost certainly destined to be box office successes. The latter film could find itself competing for the box office crown of the year if it does as well as the animated original.

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