Aquaman Hits #1 In Home Video Sales

Aquaman Hits #1 In Home Video Sales

The DC live-action universe has had a fascinating tenure in theaters, full of peaks and valleys. While all seemed lost after the poor critical and financial performance of Justice League and Batman v Superman, Warner Bros.' massive franchise seems to be on the upswing. The DCEU is taking a step away from serialized storytelling and crossover-heavy movies, instead allowing directors to have more creative control of each blockbuster.

This pivot for the shared universe made its debut with James Wan's Aquaman, which was wholly focused on the title character and denizens of Atlantis. The project was well received by critics, and made a ton of money at the box office in the process. And the King's reign isn't ending anytime soon, as Aquaman's home copies are selling like hot cakes.

Enough cinephiles and DC fans are getting their own copies of Aquaman that the blockbuster is currently sitting on number 1 at the home video sale charts. James Wan's underwater adventure beat out the likes of fellow Christmas release Mary Poppins Returns, as well as animated comic book movie Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.

This report from MediaPlayNews should come as no major surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to the trajectory of Aquaman. James Wan had his work cut out for him in the movie's filming and editing process, as half of Aquaman was set underwater. Extensive wire work and visual effects were necessarily to give characters a sense of weightlessness, plus a ton of imagination to make the underwater civilization come to life.

Because of these challenges, Aquaman's success was far from guaranteed. What's more, James Wan's blockbuster was focused on a superhero who hasn't traditionally been the most badass or beloved member of the Justice League. Aquaman has often been the butt of jokes, with animated adaptations of the character making his powers seem a bit silly. But all that changed with Jason Momoa's version, after his debut in Justice League.

Jason Momoa became a household name through his brief tenure as Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones. He's a hulking physical presence, who was largely introduced to audiences by massacring his enemies across the narrow sea. So when he was cast as Aquaman, it was clear that we weren't getting the dopey blonde version from Super Friends.

In the end, audiences really responded to the colorful world of Aquaman. In fact, the box office numbers were so strong that both a sequel and spinoff are being developed by Warner Bros. The strong performance of its home sales is simply the icing on the cake, reminding DC that they might the right call in green lighting the spinoff The Trench.

You can own a copy of Aquaman now, and DC's next release Shazam! is currently in theaters. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Read More

Dana Carvey Actually Quit The Wayne's World Movie Over The Script

Dana Carvey Actually Quit The Wayne's World Movie Over The Script

Mike Myers and Dana Carvey reprised their roles as Wayne and Garth for the 1992 feature film adaptation of their recurring Saturday Night Live sketch, Wayne’s World. That film remains the most successful film based on an SNL sketch and Wayne and Garth are two icons of the '90s. However, it almost didn’t happen, or history might have viewed Wayne’s World differently, because Dana Carvey actually quit the film at one point over the script, as he explained:

Mike was writing it, and I was putting stuff in. Then I would see that the stuff wasn’t in anymore. And so I actually, three weeks before we started shooting, said ‘thanks, but no thanks.’ I actually quit the movie.

Mike Myers, Bonnie Turner and Terry Turner are credited with writing the script for Wayne’s World, but during the writing process, Dana Carvey was trying to have some creative input by adding things in. As he told Howard Stern on The Howard Stern Show, everything that he was putting into the story was getting cut and that led to him quitting the film shortly before production was set to begin.

Based on his conversation with Howard Stern, Dana Carvey was trying to beef up his role in the film and give the character of Garth Algar more to do. He still viewed Garth as the sidekick, but wanted to add in things to the story to give him more of an arc. Carvey felt that he had nothing to do otherwise and there was no point in him even being in it with such a limited role.

These additions were not accepted though and they all got the axe, resulting in a story where he felt his character was getting short-changed. Dana Carvey understandably became frustrated that he wasn’t getting a creative say, and that frustration built to the point that he no longer wanted to even be a part of the film.

Apparently the powers that be didn’t initially believe that Dana Carvey was really quitting, and had he not come back, Wayne’s World would have presumably recast the role of Garth if it went forward at all. Fortunately, Dana Carvey’s exit wasn’t permanent.

Although the comedian/actor didn’t elaborate on what specifically changed his mind, Wayne’s World got to party on and went forward with him and Mike Myers as the two metalheads, ultimately becoming the cult classic it is today. Dana Carvey also said that he and Mike Myers wound up getting along during the making of the film and noted how great Wayne’s World turned out.

It is unfortunate that Dana Carvey felt like he didn’t get much creative input, but given Wayne’s World’s classic status, it’s hard to say that changing it would have improved it. Wayne does have a more robust story arc with his various girl troubles, but the film needs Garth too, even if his story is very much tied to Wayne.

Mike Myers and Dana Carvey reprised their roles as Wayne and Garth for the Saturday Night Live 40th anniversary a few years back and the two comedians showed up on stage together at this past Academy Awards. Whether that means we’ll ever get a Wayne’s World 3 is anyone’s guess, but Mike Myers hasn’t closed the door on it.

Dana Carvey lends his voice to the character Pops in The Secret Life of Pets 2, in theaters on June 7. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of all this year’s biggest movies.

Read More

New Aladdin Clip Is Set Right Before ‘A Whole New World'

New Aladdin Clip Is Set Right Before ‘A Whole New World'

Disney’s live-action remake undertaking will soon continue with the release of a new Aladdin and fans are especially awaiting the new versions of the beloved songs from the 1992 animated musical. Is it from a new fantastic point of view? Check out this new look that sets up the highly-anticipated “A Whole New World” reimagining:

Swept away yet? The glimpse from Walt Disney Studios shows the beginning of Aladdin and Jasmine’s night before they board their magic carpet ride and break into song. Under the alias of “Prince Ali”, Aladdin is convincing the princess of Agrabah to leave her comfort behind the walls of the castle her confined world of books and maps and really go out and see the world with him. Before she can shoot out a round of excuses as to why she can’t, he reveals his magic carpet and asks her if he trusts her.

Disney fans know the “do you trust me?” line is straight out of the animated film. In the original, Jasmine first meets “street rat” Aladdin who feeds the same quote. So when the princess hears this from Ali, she knows it’s the guy she’d been crushing on from her rogue adventure outside the castle walls.

It’s a sweet moment between the couple that is lovably reminiscent of the 1992 classic. Aladdin exudes confidence with his prince persona, as he offers to show her the world and the couple will soon break out into song. The clip ends conveniently right before the track begins, serving as the perfect tease for the upcoming live-action flick. I for one am happy they cut it where they did, a moment like this should be seen for the first time on the big screen.

The first Aladdin trailer did include a bit of the “Whole New World” song including the new vocals by Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott, but we’ll likely have to wait until the movie hits theaters later this month before we see the full sequence.

Aladdin is a remake of the fairytale, this time with the Genie to be played by Will Smith. The actor will be adding his own comedic flavor to the film and rapping the character’s signature track “Friend Like Me”. Smith recently paid a visit to Jimmy Fallon and spit a few bars and while it’s a departure from what we remember, it’s a fun new take on it.

The movie will also include two brand news songs, one another duet between Aladdin and Jasmine and the other a solo tune from Jasmine. Mena Massoud also recently teased an all-improv scene between him and Will Smith in the film.

After the under-performing result of Disney’s last live-action offering Dumbo, Aladdin is tracking to have a more successful opening weekend during the Memorial Day holiday with four-day weekend projections between $85 million and $115 million.

Did the new clip get you excited for the upcoming magic carpet ride in Aladdin when it hits theaters on May 24? Sing your song in the comments below.

Read More

6 Insane Us Easter Eggs That Appear To Have Much Deeper Meanings

6 Insane Us Easter Eggs That Appear To Have Much Deeper Meanings

The following contains significant spoilers for Us.

Based on the weekend's box office results, it appears that a lot of people went to see Jordan Peels's new movie Us. It's a movie that has a lot going on. It has so much happening that it's very possible you didn't catch many or everything worthy of note -- especially if you only saw the movie once.

There are lots of easter eggs and references hidden inside Us, but rather than simply existing within the film so that the audience might catch them, many -- if not all -- of these little moments seem to be clearly chosen by Jordan Peele to help build on the larger themes of Us and foreshadow the story to come. Here are just a few my favorites.

Those Video Tapes

Us opens with a very odd sequence in which we watch a small child watching television in the 80s. Specifically, she's watching a promotion for Hands Across America, the fundraising stunt that was designed to bring attention to homelessness and poverty. Why we're seeing this is far from clear, but what's even more interesting than this dated advertisement is the collection of VHS tapes surrounding the television.

Among the tapes on display are The Goonies, a movie about kids who go exploring through a collection of hidden tunnels under the ground, and C.H.U.D., a horror film about monsters living in the sewers. We also see the box for The Man with Two Brains. While the movie itself doesn't necessarily connect to the concepts behind Us, the idea of two minds being connected is certainly key to understanding Us.

Thriller

Us opens in the 1980s, more specifically in 1986 at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. It's there we meet Adelaide for the first time. She's a young child watching her father compete in carnival-style games where he's able to successfully win her a prize, a Michael Jackson t-shirt specifically, one promoting Thriller, one of the biggest albums ever made.

Bringing up Thriller isn't simply an easy reference to make it clear you're watching a scene from the 1980s. Instead, we're talking about a song that created one of the most memorable music videos of all-time. In the video, Jackson's character shows that he has a dark side. He is both a man and a monster in the same way that the actors in Us play both roles. We also see a horde of zombie-like characters come up from underground, the same place they live in Us.

The Lost Boys

One of my personal favorite references in Us comes just after Adelaide gets her Michael Jackson T-shirt. The family is looking for something else to do at the boardwalk and Adelaide's mother makes a throwaway reference that there is a movie shooting down the boardwalk, and maybe they should try to get in the movie as extras.

This isn't just a random comment. The scene we're watching is taking place in 1986, which would have been exactly when the '80s classic The Lost Boys would have been filming in Santa Cruz, as it was released in 1987. The movie, which takes place in a fictionalized version of Santa Cruz, called Santa Carla, supposes there is a world full of vampires that exists alongside the world that we know. They've always been there, we just didn't know they were there, just like the tethered.

The Shining

For many there is no creepier horror movie than Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Us pays its own sort of tribute to the classic by borrowing and re-purposing one of its most iconic images, a pair of creepy twins. The Wilson family is friends with another family, the Tylers. Husband Josh is played by Tim Heidecker and wife Kitty by Elizabeth Moss. Like the Wilson family they have two children, but in this case they are twins Becca and Lindsey.

Everybody in Us has a twin of course, but we don't know that at this point in the story. Of course, these twins, like everybody else in the film, have evil duplicates too. In fact, it's them that commit the first killing of "normal" characters when they rush their opposites from either side with knives drawn. Clearly, twins are just evil.

Jaws

The beach sequence when the Wilsons go to Santa Cruz owes more than a little to the classic Steven Spielberg film Jaws. If you needed that explained, there's the fact that son Jason is actually wearing a Jaws t-shirt to the beach in the scene. In both cases we see a seemingly idyllic beach town fall into terror and violence.

However, beyond that, the end of the scene plays out in much the same way as a key sequence in Jaws. Adelaide is sitting on the beach and not really listening to Kitty when she realizes Jason has disappeared. She begins to look around for him and the tension builds to panic as Adelaide tries to cut out all the ancillary noise and find her son. Roy Schneider goes through a nearly identical sequence in Jaws. Although, things actually turn out OK for Jason, at least in that moment.

Alice in Wonderland

While most of the references in Us are front and center (even if their meanings aren't always clear), this one is a bit less obvious, but the implications are certainly there.

Rabbits are an important symbol in Us. We look at them as the opening credits run, and we learn they were the primary food that the tethered had to eat. We also see daughter Zora sporting a t-shirt with a rabbit on it early in the film. When Adelaide finds herself back in the hall of mirrors and she first opens the door into the tunnels, the first thing she sees is a rabbit coming out, and then down the rabbit hole she goes, as in Alice in Wonderland. Once again, we're dealing with the idea that an entirely new world we weren't aware of has existed beneath us all this time.

This is certainly not an exhaustive list of the references in Us. It seems that Jordan Peele left little to chance and nearly everything that we see is there for a reason. What Easter eggs or references did you catch in Us that you thought were especially telling? Let us know in the comments below.

Read More

First Sonic The Hedgehog Trailer Gives Him Wild New Powers

First Sonic The Hedgehog Trailer Gives Him Wild New Powers

Studios have continued to try and crack the code of turning video games into movies the way they have with comic books and the result has been films with a lot of different looks and styles. Now, we have one of the most popular video game characters ever getting his first big screen adventure and it's...interesting, to say the least. Check out the first trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog and see what the blue speedster can do in a world of humans.

Of course, the movie starts showing off just how fast Sonic is, that's his whole gimmick, but here Sonic apparently can move so fast that he goes full Quicksilver in a sequence where the world around him appears to be standing still. Even Sonic doesn't usually go quite that fast.

In addition to that, we see a sequence where the famous gold rings that Sonic collects in the video game can apparently be used as portals that transport Sonic's human friends from on place to another. i guess now we know why he picks so many of them up.

Sonic is a character born in the 1990s and that vibe permeates the trailer. Possibly not more so than in seeing Jim Carrey's version of Dr. Robotnik, which is born from a very old school Jim Carrey performance. It feels like something out of an Ace Ventura movie and to be honest, I can get behind that. It's certainly not the version of Dr. Robotnik I was expecting, and I'm not sure what it means to the film as a whole, it may not really work, but if you're a fan of old school Jim Carrey, it's nice to see.

For those fans a little thrown off by Carrey's look, the end of the trailer gives us a version of Robotnik more in line with the classic video game version, though how one becomes the other we don't know.

For fans of the classic video game, there are plenty of fun references in the trailer. The Paramount logo is scene surrounded by gold rings. James Marsden's police officer is a resident of Green Hills, a reference to the first level of the original Sonic the Hedgehog video game. Even the film's tagline about every hero having a "Genesis," is a cute reference to the Sega video game console on which Sonic had his best adventures. Possibly his only good ones.

The plot of the film is a bit vague based on the trailer. Sonic needs to "save the planet" though it's not clear here from what. Robotnik appears to be chasing Sonic, not the source of whatever Sonic is trying to save us from so what that is we don't really know.

Sonic the Hedgehog fans were more than a little concerned when the first posters came out for the new film. The character's look was a little disconcerting. I'm not sure this trailer is going to alleviate anybody's fears. It's a little over the top and Sonic still looks, odd. Having said that, Sonic has been portrayed as being full of attitude in pretty much all of his incarnations so this isn't all that out of line even if it seems a bit much.

Sonic the Hedgehog hits theaters in November.

Read More

Zachary Levi Explains How Uncomfortable His Shazam! Costume Was

Zachary Levi Explains How Uncomfortable His Shazam! Costume Was

We all know that superheroes look cool. I mean, would the whole superhero thing even have caught on back in the day if the characters who filled comic books looked like high school science teachers while they were battling supervillains? I think not. We need those crazy tight, multi-colored and sometimes unnecessarily revealing costumes to set our heroes and every arch nemesis apart from the rest of us regular folk. What this tends to mean, though, especially in the modern age of comic book-based movies, where every super suit is less of a stretchy spandex affair and more of a protective, tactical outfit, is that the actors who get the great opportunity to bring our favorites to the big screen have to put up with some less than comfortable costumes for several hours a day.

Unfortunately for Shazam! star Zachary Levi, his upcoming turn as the many-powered hero was also befallen by this common superhero movie issue. And, he's more than willing to tell us all just how inconvenient this particular aspect of his character was, especially when certain necessary...functions come into play.

It's what everybody says, it's the inconvenience of when you need to go to the bathroom. Yeah, because in order for it to look great, you have to have it kind of be seamless. You can't have a bunch of zippers and things everywhere, unless you're like Deadpool, I guess. He had a bunch of zippers.

Man, being an actor starring in a big budget superhero movie is tough work. Honestly, though, with all the advancements that have been made in technology over the past few decades, are you really telling me that there's no way to get an easy open / easy close pee hole into these supersuits that is also easily hidden? So, we can all get together and de-age Samuel L. Jackson realistically and create entire awesome looking characters out of CGI, but we can't give our actors a semi-quick way to use the potty? What is this world coming to?

I cannot imagine how distracting it would be to need to go to the bathroom and have to enlist a team of helpers to get me at that all important goal. Plus, just the time needed to get supersuit things undone, moved over, slid down or to get tubing added or a bedpan inserted (don't yell at me, I don't know how they do these things) must be insane. Who among us has not been busy and waited until the last minute to finally head over to pee and poo factory? Just think about having to call a team together an hour before you actually think you might have to use the bathroom to get the process started in time so that you don't have an embarrassing accident all over your $1 million superhero costume. Just take the cost out of my salary, David F. Sandberg!

I do like the idea of a superhero costume that has zippers, snaps, buttons or just plain holes everywhere. Though, now that I think about it, strategically placed holes would probably be an issue that would make the MPAA faint, so, maybe Zachary Levi and I should leave the costume design to the experts.

Speaking of Deadpool, as Levi did when he spoke with Comicbook, he doesn't actually have a bunch of zippers on his costume, which may be one of the reasons that star Ryan Reynolds has referred to his costume as "a big, red body condom," and colorfully admitted to being able to "taste" his own genitals when he wears it. What can I say? Sounds like an interesting day at work that Reynolds will, at least, never forget.

Even more recently, we heard Aquaman star Jason Momoa discuss a similar issue with his official suit, saying that "if you have the poopsies, it is very challenging," and noting that being able to hold it is a valuable skill. He later claimed it was just a joke, but, come on, Momoa, we know you were just trying to regain some of your sense of sexy mystery that was undone by using the word "poopsies" in public. It's OK, friend. We're here for you.

While Zachary Levi also had other comfort issues with his Shazam! suit, he does seem to understand just how big of a deal it is to get to be able to bring a superhero to life on the big screen for the first time, and is more than willing to step into his "second skin" again if he gets the chance.

It's just the overall kind of uncomfortability sometimes of wearing essentially a massive spandex adult size onesie. It's super tight, it becomes kind of like a second skin, I would overheat in it. I would freeze in it. The electronics in it would be a dance sometimes. But all of that, whatever, I'll take all of that times ten if I get to do this again. If I get to be the guy to wear the suit, I'll take the lumps, I'll do it.

By all accounts so far, Zachary Levi did a great job of not letting any of the problems with his superhero suit show on screen, and we can all be thankful for that. You can watch him try not to pee when Shazam! rolls into theaters on April 5.

Read More

The Cute Homage Peter Parker Pays To Tony Stark In New Far From Home Trailer

The Cute Homage Peter Parker Pays To Tony Stark In New Far From Home Trailer

Warning: SPOILERS for Avengers: Endgame are in play. If you still want to avoid being spoiled, head on to another story and come back once you’ve seen the film.

In the wake of Avengers: Endgame’s climactic finale, the world is mourning Tony Stark’s death after he used the Infinity Gauntlet to take down Thanos and his invasion army. And one of the most prolific mourners is, undoubtedly, Peter Parker, who became a sort of son to the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist before he had a family of his own.

So obviously, when someone as influential as Tony was to Peter passes, the young hero is going to want to pay tribute to the man who helped him become an Avenger in the first place. And in Spider-Man: Far From Home’s latest trailer, we saw a fitting homage to Tony Stark, as Peter Parker now has Tony's last pair of iconic sunglasses, as you’ll see in the screenshot from the trailer below:

First seen in Avengers: Infinity War, Tony Stark had been wearing a pair of rather sharp Dita Mach-One sunglasses in his final arc in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So naturally, upon his passing, someone had to inherit them. While his wife, Pepper Potts, or even his daughter, Morgan, might have been good heirs, seeing those shades go to Peter feels rather apt.

Despite not being an actual heir by blood, Peter Parker is the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s current heir to Tony Stark’s mantle. He even says in the new trailer, “The world needs the next Iron Man,” and looking at the rest of the trailer at hand, it looks like Peter might be keen on trying to fill that void. Though if Tony were to give him advice on the matter, he’d probably tell him not to try so hard, and to just be that friendly neighborhood Spider-Man he’s always been.

We’ll see Peter Parker undoubtedly learning some similar lessons in Spider-Man: Far From Home, as a class trip to Europe starts out like the usual fun and games, but turns into serious business. With Nick Fury and Maria Hill drafting Spider-Man into assisting Quentin Beck’s Mysterio in fighting the Elementals waging war on the continent, the usual teenager abroad antics are going to be the least of Peter’s worries on his itinerary.

And where else would be a better place for someone like Peter Parker to learn the lessons of being a hero than in a variety of beautiful European settings? We don’t know where we’d suggest as alternatives, but we do suggest that you watch the Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer again (or for the first time) below:

You still have some time to prepare for Spider-Man: Far From Home, as it takes its first bows on July 2, with tickets now available for opening weekend showings. Which means you have plenty of time to see Avengers: Endgame, which is currently in theaters.

Read More