When The Black Widow Movie Should Start Filming, According To David Harbour

When The Black Widow Movie Should Start Filming, According To David Harbour

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is in a truly fascinating place right now. Avengers: Endgame is just weeks away, and the future of the MCU is largely a mystery. Marvel Studios is keeping its plans close to chest for Phase Four, as releasing the next slate of films has the potential to spoil the events of Endgame. But there are a few developing projects to keep an eye out for, including the long-awaited Black Widow movie.

The Black Widow movie has been slowly coming together, as director Cate Shortland has been assembling her cast and crew. Joining Scarlett Johansson for her first Marvel solo flick is Stranger Things fan favorite David Harbour, who already dipped his toes into the superhero genre with Hellboy. Harbour recently revealed when Widow's movie might begin filming, saying:

I think it’s slated to start in June. I don’t think they have it fully-boarded yet, but it’s a great character. I’m really excited about it. The cast is fleshing out (with) Scarlett and Florence Pugh, I think they said. I know they were talking about Rachel Weisz. There’s some really great actresses.

Well, this is exciting. The casting process may still be under way, but it looks like Black Widow's movie may start production in the near future. June isn't all that far away, so it looks like the solo flick will end up being one of the first releases of Phase Four. As long as nothing goes awry, that is.

David Harbour's comments to Den Of Geek are sure to excite the rabid Marvel fanbase, who are eager to see Scarlet Johansson's signature Marvel character get her time in the sun. While little to no information has been shared regarding the movie's contents, development amping up and possible June filming makes it all seem much more real. And the movie is a long time coming.

Despite being an OG member of The Avengers and one of the biggest characters in the MCU, Black Widow has surprisingly not been given her own solo movie yet. Instead, Natasha Romanoff served as a supporting character in a variety of other projects, including Iron Man 2 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But considering how mysterious and complicated the character is, she's still been underused in this capacity.

But that should change with her solo movie, although it's unclear what that project will contain. Black Widow is one of the surviving characters in Avengers: Endgame, but it seems possible that she might perish in the battle against Thanos. If that's the case, perhaps the solo movie will be a prequel, allowing for Widow's dark backstory to finally be fleshed out onscreen.

Black Widow will return to theaters when Avengers: Endgame arrives in theaters on April 26th, and you can see David Harbour in Hellboy April 12th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

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Captive State Was Inspired By Some Surprising Classics

Captive State Was Inspired By Some Surprising Classics

When new science-fiction films are about to be released, it’s common that we hear a lot of filmmakers talk about what are fairly standard inspirations – films like Star Wars, Alien, Blade Runner, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Obviously this makes sense, as it’s logical to take cues from some of the best genre films of all time, but interestingly that’s not the story behind the new film Captive State. As while the movie is definitely a sci-fi tale featuring a full-scale alien invasion, it wasn’t actually classic alien invasion movies that gave co-writer/director Rupert Wyatt ideas of what he wanted to do with the feature.

The subject of Captive State’s sources of inspiration came up early in a conversation that I had with Rupert Wyatt last week, talking over the phone about his work on the new film. I started the interview asking him about where the initial idea came from, and how it developed as a movie he wanted to make, and I’ll admit that he sincerely surprised me with the titles that he namedropped:

I've always been a fan of stories about characters that rage against the machine, and that'll fight back against the institutions. So Randle P. McMurphy in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, or Paul Newman [as Lucas "Luke" Jackson] and Cool Hand Luke. And I've also been a real fan of stories, or films, rather, that deal with that on a macro level - on a national level. So Battle Of Algiers is one of my favorite films, and Army Of Shadows about the French resistance, Jean-Pierre Melville.

Rather than approaching Captive State from a purely genre perspective, Rupert Wyatt was compelled to tell this story because of a personal fascination with iconoclasts, which he brought to his work on the script alongside co-writer Erica Beeney. What’s more, he was particularly interested in the idea on both small and large scales, noting examples of both personal struggles – namely battles within the walls of mental hospitals and prisons – as well as full scale revolts.

This certainly tracks with the plot developments of Captive State, which is an ensemble film set in the not-to-distant future following an invasion of extraterrestrials known as the Legislators. The story tracks a number of different narratives to show life in this world, including those both trying to maintain a level or order, and those who are trying to take down what they see to be an oppressive system.

Rupert Wyatt is no stranger to science-fiction, having previously directed Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, but his approach to genre with this one was a bit secondary. Taking the inspiration he did from the films mentioned above, he felt he wanted to tell a story in America, but not one that has already been told. As a result, it was felt by the filmmaker that the best move would be to tell a story set in the future instead of the past. Said Wyatt,

I thought it would be really interesting to be able to tell a story like that, but on the footprint of America - North America. And rather than delve back to the American revolution when they were kicking the likes of me out of the country, I thought what about if I kind of push into the future and put a documentary film crew into the future and tell that story - but in a very near future, and the occupying beings being an alien species. It really sprung from that.

It’s ultimately an impressive juggling act, but one that Captive State pulls off – both creating a heavily-detailed world and a number of engaging characters with compelling specific missions. The film, which stars Ashton Sanders, John Goodman, Vera Farmiga, Alan Ruck, James Ransone, and Kevin Dunn, arrives in theaters this Friday, and we’ll have more for you about the movie heading your way in the next few days here on CinemaBlend.

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How Much Annabelle Comes Home Could Make Opening Weekend

How Much Annabelle Comes Home Could Make Opening Weekend

It may be barely May but the summer movie season essentially started two weeks ago with the release of Avengers: Endgame. This is the time of year when nearly every major release is looking to bring in major box office dollars, especially major franchise players. This includes the Conjuring franchise, as the newest installment of the series, Annabelle Comes Home is looking to bring in something in the neighborhood of $40 million domestic during its opening weekend.

While a $40 million domestic opening might not seem like a great deal, especially now that Avengers: Endgame has completely thrown perspective out of wack by bringing in over $600 million domestically in barely over a week, for Annabelle Comes Home, it's a solid number.

Box Office Pro is projecting a number between $35-$45 million domestic which is a number on par with what most of the films in the Conjuring franchise have done. In fact, the two previous Annabelle movies opened at $35 million and $37 million respectively, so the new movie is actually tracking to do slightly better than the previous films in that particular series.

This is especially good news because horror movies will not be in short supply as we go into the summer. The remake of Child's Play will be hitting theaters only the weekend before Annabelle Comes Home, and the Octavia Spencer-led Ma comes out at the end of May. It's possible horror movie fans might have had their fill before Annabelle Comes Home is released, but based on the numbers, that won't be the case.

This means the new movie will likely also finish up where many of the other Conjuring movies have, which means it has a good shot at breaking the $100 million domestic box office mark. Only the first Annabelle movie was unable to hit that number within the franchise, unless you count The Curse of La Llorona as being part of the series, and the jury is still sort of out on whether or not that one counts.

Of course, considering even those two films had budgets of under $10 million, they were still quite successful financially.

One reason Annabelle Comes Home may do better than other Conjuring movies, beyond the main entries, is that Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the stars of the main entries, are set to appear in the new film. This means that fans that maybe haven't been all in on the spinoffs might still give this one a chance.

With The Conjuring 3 still on the horizon, fans may not want to miss this entry in the franchise in case it has bearing on the next movie. This is, after all, how cinematic universes work, and The Conjuring universe is one of the few outside of Marvel to be truly successful.

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ReelBlend #68: Our Interview With John Wick: Chapter 3 Director Chad Stahelski

ReelBlend #68: Our Interview With John Wick: Chapter 3 Director Chad Stahelski

Very few directors currently are doing action as well as Chad Stahelski. He learned from the best. The kickboxer turned stunt performer turned coordinator turned director has been reinventing the stunt/fight wheel with the John Wick franchise, which is continuing this week with John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.

Before the movie opens in theaters, Stahelski was kind enough to join the ReelBlend podcast for a candid discussion on his extensive approach to action-set constructions, the insane amount of time it takes to do action scenes with trained dogs, the way they broke story for the John Wick saga, and the influence that The Matrix continues to have on action movies to this day.

(In case you were unaware, Chad Stahelski first met Keanu Reeves when we worked as the actor’s stunt double on all three Matrix movies. Theirs is a legendary partnership that stretches back decades.)

It was an honor to have Chad Stahelski on our show, and we know the Blenders are going to love his incredible stories about the John Wick films, and moviemaking in general.

Before we got into our conversation with Chad Stahelski, we discussed the news that Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will be the ones to get their Star Wars movie in theaters in 2022. There hasn’t been confirmation that their trilogy will continue in 2024 and 2026 (or if Rian Johnson will get one of those slots to begin HIS trilogy), but those guys are slated into the 2022 slot, and we discuss how that impacts Star Wars going forward.

Speaking of Game of Thrones, Kevin, Sean and Jake weigh in with their opinions of the next-to-last episode of Game of Thrones. Their largely split on how things played out, but they talk about how the season is concluding, and how they think the finale will play out.

Finally, this week’s #Blend Game focused on the films of Sofia Coppola. How many of the guys chose Lost in Translation?

ReelBlend is a weekly podcast that we do on CinemaBlend. You can download the latest episode (and all of our past episodes) for FREE on our iTunes page! Visit. Subscribe. Like and comment. Review! Apple loves when you have star ratings and reviews, so if you listened, and you liked it (or even if you didn't), let us know. We also are on Spotify. And Google Play. And basically everywhere that you download podcasts. So download us.

Meanwhile, follow the guys on Social Media! We have an official Twitter feed for the show, so follow @ReelBlend. In addition, follow the guys at @Sean_OConnell, @JakesTakesand @KevinMcCarthyTV.

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Watch Aladdin’s Will Smith Rap ‘Friend Like Me’ Live

Watch Aladdin’s Will Smith Rap ‘Friend Like Me’ Live

Disney's next live-action remake is Aladdin and without a doubt, the hardest job in the new movie is the one done by Will Smith. He has to try to fill the shoes of the great Robin Williams, whose most iconic role ever might just be the animated blue Genie. For many there is simply no way to fill the shoes of Robin Williams, but Smith is going to do his best to make the role his own, and on a recent episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, we got a taste of how.

Will Smith tells Jimmy Fallon that he himself wasn't interested in taking on the role of the Genie at first, but as he thought about it, he found a way to put his own spin on the part through one of Aladdin's classic songs, the showstopping "Friend Like Me." Smith even performed a bit of it on the show. Check it out.

The audience clearly seems to get into the impromptu performance, as does Jimmy Fallon, though pretty much everything seems to get Fallon excited.

It's about as far from Robin Williams' version of "Friend Like Me" as you can get, which is, of course, the point. Inviting comparison to Williams is only going to end badly for Will Smith and the movie in general. The best move is to lean into Will Smith's strengths, including his musical ability, and give this version of the Genie an energy that is uniquely Will Smith.

We've gotten some brief glimpses of both the visuals and the music in the new Aladdin, but clearly the big stuff is being held for the film itself. Will Smith tells Jimmy Fallon that the "Prince Ali" number is going to be especially impressive. That's one part of the film that we really haven't seen.

The initial reaction to the new Aladdin was less than stellar following the reveal of Will Smith's Genie. People felt the CGI look was just wrong. The more recent trailers have seemingly calmed most nerves. Fans who are looking for a new version of the story they love are clearly going to get that, and Smith's version of the Genie appears to spend a large part of the movie looking human, so if the CGI is rough, we may not have to deal with it for long.

If you'd like to compare Will Smith's performance of "Friend Like Me" to the original, you can check out Robin Williams version in the video below.

Remakes are always a bit of a tightrope. On the one hand, seeing a different interpretation of a favorite movie can be a lot of fun, and multiple versions can be embraced for different reasons. At the same time, people want to see the parts of the original story that they loved the first time around. It's a bit of a balancing act.

Will Smith alone might be enough to keep Aladdin from following too close to the original material, in the way Beauty and the Beast did. We'll find out when the new Aladdin hits theaters May 24.

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Keri Russell's Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Character Finally Revealed In New Image

Keri Russell's Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Character Finally Revealed In New Image

While we’re still pretty much in the dark when it comes to details on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s plot, there’s plenty of other information that’s slowly being put out into the universe. Today brings one of the most beautiful traditions linked to the modern era of Star Wars film’s: the Vanity Fair spread.

Among the new character reveals that took place in this latest version of that time-honored happening is our first look at Keri Russell’s new Star Wars character, Zorri Bliss. As you’ll see in the photo below, she was absolutely right to say that she had the coolest costume in the film:

This first look at Zorri and her costume has us thinking that Keri Russell is playing a bounty hunter character, or at least someone who swims in the same dark circles as Boba Fett. Then again, if anyone shows up in the Star Wars universe with weapons and a helmet obscuring their face, it’s not a hard stretch to think that this person would be looking to apprehend any person, object, or information for the right price.

With a gold helmet that looks like The Rocketeer joined Daft Punk, and a crimson/purple jumpsuit that complements further gold and bronze accents, Zorri is definitely ready for action. The inclusion of her dual pistols only makes us want to hang out with her more, knowing that at any given moment, a fight could break out and Zorri Bliss would end it just as quickly.

Not only was the first look at Zorri’s costume shared by Vanity Fair, but some details about Zorri’s character were also given. Sure enough, we’re not the only people that see a smooth criminal in the Star Wars galaxy, as their write up mentions that the fresh war raging throughout the new trilogy has continued to allow the criminal underworld to flourish. Which certainly explains the fancy threads on Zorri Bliss.

As Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is set up to conclude the Skywalker Saga, the two trilogies of stand-alone films that won’t deal with that particular corner of the storied universe are on the horizon, and will need new characters to play around with. Which means that between Rian Johnson’s new films, and those being undertaken by Game of Thrones’ masterminds David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, there’s a chance that Zorri Bliss could appear again down the line.

That's speculation, of course, but should Keri Russell’s new character make a big enough impression, this just might be the future we’re looking at. We’ll have to wait until Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives in our galaxy on December 20th to find out. In the meantime, you can take a look at what all we know about the upcoming flick so far.

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Why Annabelle Comes Home Is Very Much A Homecoming For The Conjuring Universe

Why Annabelle Comes Home Is Very Much A Homecoming For The Conjuring Universe

In the last six years, The Conjuring Universe has become one of the most successful active franchises in Hollywood. It all started when James Wan’s The Conjuring turned out to be a massively huge hit in the summer of 2013, and since then the brand has expanded to include multiple spin-off series, which have actually mostly performed as well or better than the core titles.

As the franchise has continued, it’s expanded in interesting ways and gone to some exciting new places – and it’s in recognition of this that Gary Dauberman’s upcoming Annabelle Comes Home holds a special place the brand’s direction. It turns out the title has a semi-double meaning, as in addition to the movie featuring a plot that sees the titular doll come to live in the Warren house, it’s also seen by the filmmakers as a homecoming of sorts for the entire Conjuring Universe.

This was a sentiment shared by producer Peter Safran during an interview late last year when I had the chance to visit the set of what was then only called Annabelle 3:

The idea bringing it back to the Warren family was something that we've been toying with for a while. We had the Perrons, we had the Hodgsons, we took it all away to Romania – a totally different vibe and feel for The Nun. And we just liked the idea of bringing it closer to home, back to ordinary people and extraordinary circumstances, which was kind of the touchstone for it. And it just really made sense.

To fill in the gaps for the uninitiated, The Conjuring started the franchise with a story that actually spent a fair amount of time in the Warren home, in addition to following an investigation of the relatively-local Perron household. But the movies have slowly moved away from that ever since. Annabelle was really only a slight crawl away as a prequel story with a direct link-up featured at the end, but then The Conjuring 2 took Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga’s Ed and Lorraine Warren to England for the infamous Enfield Poltergeist case with the Hodgson clan. Annabelle: Creation then took audiences back nearly 20 years before the events of The Conjuring; and then The Nun doubled down on both elements of setting by not only going further back in time (by three years), but also by featuring events primarily set in the Vatican and Romania.

It’s been six years since audiences have seen any legitimately spooky action inside of the Warren’s house, but Annabelle Comes Home will break that streak when it’s released this summer. Set over the course of one night, the story centers on Ed and Lorraine’s daughter, Judy (McKenna Grace), as she spends the night with a babysitter (Madison Iseman) the night Annabelle is brought into household’s notorious artifact museum. Unfortunately for them, it’s evil winds up having a very strong influence over the other objects in the room, unleashing all kinds of terrors.

Further discussing the approach of bringing the action back to the Warrens’, Peter Safran explained that there has long been a creative curiosity when it comes to the aforementioned artifact museum, and Annabelle Comes Home will finally be the movie that sees the potential there explored. Plus, he added, it’s an opportunity to directly follow-up on the very first case that audiences were introduced to in the first Conjuring. Said the producer,

We always loved the idea of the artifact room being the potential source of more stories. The idea of actually setting a film around that was something, again, that we had in our mind for a while, and Gary [Dauberman] and James [Wan], and myself just thought this was the opportunity – that the third Annabelle movie is the opportunity to really raise the stakes. And that was it. Also the opening scene of The Conjuring is so iconic when it opens up on the half face of Annabelle, we just always liked the idea of, what happened after they left there? We see them taking the doll, what happens? It was actually something other people had asked us in the past as well. We just thought we will explore that story.

There will still be plenty more opportunities for The Conjuring Universe to explore new cities, countries, and time periods, as there are multiple projects actively in development, but Annabelle Comes Home is specifically being made as the film that brings us full circle.

The directorial debut of Gary Dauberman – who previously wrote the scripts for Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation, and The Nun – Annabelle Comes Home is scheduled to freak out audiences this summer with its June 28th release. And be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend, as I have plenty more stories coming your way in the coming days from my time visiting the set.

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