Rian Johnson Reveals When He’ll Start Working On His Star Wars Trilogy

Rian Johnson Reveals When He’ll Start Working On His Star Wars Trilogy

The past few years have been very exciting for Star Wars fans. After Disney acquired the rights to the property from Lucasfilm, the generations of moviegoers have been brought a variety of new and exciting content from the galaxy far, far away. This includes both main installments and standalone films, and the beloved space opera isn't slowing down anytime soon.

All eyes are currently on how J.J Abrams will wrap up the Skywalker Saga forever with Episode IX, there are also two sets of movies being developed. One of which is a trilogy by The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, and now we've got an idea regarding when he'll get to work. Johnson recently presented his upcoming movie Knives Out at CinemaCon, and revealed he'd be going back to the galaxy after that film is released.

This update comes to us from Twitter, and will no doubt excite the generations of Star Wars fans who are eager for information about the franchise after Episode IX. J.J Abrams' still untitled movie will arrive this holiday season, but Disney hasn't shared its future plans with the public. It's currently unclear if any more standalone films are on the way, or when Rian Johnson's trilogy might first arrive in theaters.

The Star Wars franchise has been pumping out new releases every year, so any gaps in time before new content is going to feel excruciating to moviegoers. But Rian Johnson will craft three separate movies, which proves that Lucasfilm was happy with his work on The Last Jedi. So while the project may have subverted fan expectations and received some hate from moviegoers, Johnson is being given even more freedom to put his stamp on the galaxy far far away.

Of course, Rian Johnson isn't the only filmmaker curating new movies for the Star Wars franchise. Game of Thrones creators D.B. Weiss and David Benioff are also developing their own Star Wars flicks, although it's unclear exactly how many we should expect. But considering the work the duo has done in Westeros, it's an exciting development. We're days away from Season 8's premiere, with the upcoming series finale presumably freeing up Weiss and Benioff's schedule to focus on The Force.

It should be fascinating to see what Rian Johnson does with his trilogy of movies, especially considering how many shocking moments were in The Last Jedi. Johnson made liberal changes to the canon with his blockbuster, which is why some fans took umbrage with the risks he took. He made the franchise hero into a jaded recluse, finally gave Leia force abilities, and purposefully cut down various fan theories. By killing Snoke and revealing Rey's parentage, he freed up Episode IX to go into new and exciting places, so it feels like anything could happen with his upcoming movies.

First Rian Johnson will focus on Knives Out, which will arrive in theaters on November 27th. Episode IX will follow shortly thereafter, debuting on December 20th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release to plan your next trip to the movies.

Read More

How Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Might Be Affected By Avengers: Endgame

How Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Might Be Affected By Avengers: Endgame

The following contains SPOILERS for Avengers: Endgame**. Big ones. Seriously, if you don't want spoilers, try reading our** spoiler-free review instead.

We all went into Avengers: Endgame expecting it to be the end of many stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and we were not disappointed. Various characters saw their arcs come to a close; some in truly wonderful ways and some in bittersweet ways. However, one story we knew would be continuing was the Guardians of the Galaxy's. Their third film is back on track, so we know it will happen, but after the end of Endgame, exactly what that movie will be is a major question mark.

For a long time, everything about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was a big question. Last summer, James Gunn was publicly fired from the production and it was unclear if Marvel would even use the script he had already completed for the film. However, the recent announcement that Gunn had actually been hired back months ago, and that the film would move forward, changed all that. The film was originally slated for a 2020 release, and now it clearly won't meet that date since Gunn's working on The Suicide Squad next, but it will happen.

James Gunn announced in June of 2018 that the script for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was completed. While Avengers: Endgame went back to do some reshoots last fall, principal photography finished back in 2017. Even if James Gunn wasn't a producer of the last two Avengers films, and he was, he would be aware what the plan for Endgame was.

This is especially because as James Gunn was writing, he was expecting his movie to be in front of cameras about now. There was clearly no plan for some other movie to come along and change the situation before Guardians 3 came out.

What's Going On With Gamora?

We were already prepared for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 to be a much different story. At the end of Avengers: Infinity War, Zoe Saldana's Gamora was dead, and while the possibility that she could be resurrected was always there, it was far from certain it would happen.

What actually did happen to the Guardians in Endgame is perhaps even stranger than than having a dead main character. Gamora appears to still be alive, though it's a younger version of herself who has traveled in time and thus doesn't have a connection to the Guardians team anymore.

While the last two Avengers films brought the Guardians of the Galaxy together with the rest of thew MCU heroes, the first two of their films left them separated from the rest of the franchise's overall story. The characters were doing their own thing, which led to a pair of movies where a group of emotionally damaged people began to heal by finding each other. While the films never lacked the comic book superhero action that we loved, they were surprisingly mature stories about growth.

While there's no reason that Guardians 3 can't still be that, it appears it's also going to be a very different movie than what fans were probably expecting.

Gamora is now lacking the growth that the other Guardians have been through and the help they have given each other. The years she spent with Quill and the rest changed who she was. The end of Endgame showed Star-Lord searching for Gamora, and one assumes that's where the next Guardians film may pick up, with the team searching for their missing member, even though she doesn't think of herself as part of that team.

It certainly has the potential to be a very unique story. Peter Quill will want to rekindle his relationship with Gamora since he still loves her. Let's also not forget that Peter Quill learned a lot from his friends, mostly from Gamora. The idea that in a potentially new relationship, Quill will be the mature one, is certainly something we didn't think we'd see, and it has interesting implications for the next film.

Gamora's journey in the Guardians 3 is clearly going to be something very different. She's starting out essentially from the beginning of the franchise again, and whatever she experiences between the end of Endgame and the beginning of Guardians 3 is going to change her in entirely different ways.

Is Thor Joining The Guardians of the Galaxy?

Of course, the biggest X-factor for the future of the Guardians is Thor. At the end of Avengers: Endgame, we see that he has hitched a ride on board the ship, and, based on his battle with Quill, he might be looking to stay for a while. How will he change the dynamics of the team that so many love? He's used to being in charge and we've already seen the beginning of a power struggle between him and Star-Lord. Also, Thor is insanely powerful compared to the Guardians. How will that change the battles we know we're going to see?

Of course, having said that, Thor joining the Guardians makes a lot of sense from a perspective of Thor's narrative. He took the loss to Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War harder than anybody, and while the damage has been undone, he's still clearly lost. All of the Guardians are lost, so they find themselves together.

At the same time, technically Thor says he's only getting a ride form the Guardians, so perhaps he'll be dropped off someplace before the new movie starts.

Will The Title Change?

There is one other way that Endgame may have drastically changed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: the title. While James Gunn had previously confirmed that would be the name of the movie, we now have to wonder if that's the case. Technically, Quill trademark music now comes digitally, not on a mixtape, so the "volume" reference doesn't actually make sense anymore.

In addition, Thor actually refers to the new group as the "Asgardians of the Galaxy." It's a cute name, but it's also the name of an actual comic series from Marvel. One has to wonder if it could become the name of the upcoming film. Alternatively, depending on what happens in the next movie, it could become the name of the franchise going forward, as we know that Part Three will largely be the end of the story for the group of characters that started together in the first film.

Based on the end of Avengers: Endgame, the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie might not end up being exactly what we thought it would be, but the potential for it might actually be stronger than it was before the end of the MCU's Phase 3.

Read More

Sorry, Sean Astin Doesn’t Think A Goonies Sequel Will Happen

Sorry, Sean Astin Doesn’t Think A Goonies Sequel Will Happen

Hey, you guuuys! It’s really been almost 35 years since classic adventure film The Goonies was released, and while we’ve heard talk of a sequel through the years, there hasn’t been a whole lot of action about Goonies 2 actually being underway. Now the film’s Mikey, Sean Astin is finally losing a bit of hope that he’ll ever reprise his iconic role due to all the time that has passed. Here’s what he said:

I think we’ve probably passed the threshold for which all of us original cast members are right for doing a sequel.

Sean Astin has been one of the leading flag-flyers for another Goonies for quite some time but now at 48-years-old, he feels the time may have passed for him and the treasure hunting gang to come back for another adventure. He recently told Collider that for 20 years his answers has been an “unequivocal yes” but not anymore. Astin does have hope however for a reboot, with these words:

The audience is so powerful and so devoted to it that I’m absolutely convinced that it will at the very least will be rebooted, which I would be fine with. If it’s not as good as the original Goonies, then okay, who cares, at least it’s out there.

The Lord of the Rings actor said it’s been a project that both Steven Spielberg and Richard Donner have been interested in exploring, but Spielberg just hasn’t found the right “sauce” to jump on it yet. Plus, he's been busy pursuing his various other recent movies. Richard Donner, who directed the original film is almost 90 years old, but no one seems to want to do the project without his involvement.

Sean Astin admitted that he and Corey Feldman, who played Mouth in Goonies actually went to Richard Donner and pitched a three-act treatment to him but his response was “we’re not doing that”. So the chances of a Goonies sequel may be thin, but Sean Astin still hopes one day he’ll at least get a call about being in a cameo for a reboot one day. Goonies never say die!

Otherwise, Sean Astin has been busy recently taking on the realm of television. He’s also guest starred on the final season of The Big Bang Theory and on an upcoming episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine after being one of the “Guardians of the Nine-Nine”. Last year, the comedy was cancelled by Fox and Astin was among a handful of celebrities who rallied against it online including Guillermo del Toro, Mark Hamill, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Seth Meyers.

He was also a fan favorite Bob Newby in Stranger Things 2, which he attributes to scoring his new Netflix family sitcom No Good Nick, which is now available to stream on the platform.

Do you still want to see a Goonies sequel or reboot? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Read More

AMC Adds Some Round The Clock Showings Of Avengers: Endgame

AMC Adds Some Round The Clock Showings Of Avengers: Endgame

As many of you dear readers would know, the blitz to get tickets for Avengers: Endgame was so great it stopped the box office world for a beat. Ticket apps crashed, which eventually lead to some fans being unable to get tickets as early as others. The initial wave of tickets were eventually sold out, which lead to a healthy resellers’ market of overinflated pricing.

It looked like if you wanted to see this movie this weekend, much as the Russo Brothers intended, you were out of luck. But now, it seems like hope is on the horizon, as AMC Theatres is adding even more showings of Avengers: Endgame to its calendar for opening weekend, with some locations staying open round the clock for the entire weekend.

Before you get too excited though, you’re going to want to check your local showtimes really carefully. We say this, because that “round the clock” business isn’t applicable at all AMC locations. As a matter of fact, it looks like most of the round the clock operations will be during the Thursday/Friday timeframe, with 29 AMC theaters being open through those two specific days.

Meanwhile, 18 locations will be open between Thursday and Saturday or Friday through Sunday, again with around the clock service for Avengers: Endgame fans. Finally, 17 AMC Theaters locations will be open from Thursday through Sunday, in full 24 hour shifts.

What’s even more interesting about this influx of tickets to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s grand finale to its Infinity Saga is the fact that this is only applicable to the AMC Theatres chain. Now this could mean that other chains, both major and independent, would be forced to compete in a similar manner, leading to other businesses adding showtimes to their locations much like AMC did in this recent report from THR. This massive push to keep movie fans happy promises to make this massive record-breaking weekend for Avengers: Endgame even more of an event, especially in the face of updated estimates for this weekend that have put the film within possible striking distance of a $300 million opening in the domestic marketplace alone.

So if you’re thinking of seeing Avengers: Endgame this weekend, and AMC isn’t an option due to locations and ticket availability, don’t lose hope just yet. Keep your eyes peeled for further updates, and again, be sure to check your local listings extra carefully. Good luck out there, True Believers, and may you see the Endgame in due time.

Avengers: Endgame starts its conquest of the box office market on Thursday night, and if you’re lucky, you might just get a ticket to see the movie that’ll be on everyone’s lips throughout the summer. But if you don’t find yourself with tickets, and want to see something anyway, head over to the 2019 release schedule to see some of the films already in theaters, ready for you to give them a shot.

Read More

Mark Hamill Had The Best Response To Fake Star Wars Toy

Mark Hamill Had The Best Response To Fake Star Wars Toy

You gotta hand it to Mark Hamill when it comes to bad Star Wars puns. He keeps his dad joke A-game in peak condition -- see the Star Wars: Episode IX "trailer" he posted. But he didn't like that the joke was on Luke Skywalker with a Lego Star Wars toy featuring his missing hand.

Here's what Mark Hamill dubbed the #WorstToyEVER:

Of course he couldn't resist adding another hand pun with #LegoOfMyHand.

Plenty of people told Mark Hamill it wasn't a real toy -- apparently all you had to do was look up the Lego number -- but at least one fan disagreed that it was the worst toy. That fan was treated to a classic Star Wars reply from Luke himself:

See? Luke did listen to Obi-Wan on occasion.

A few fans replied with other fake Star Wars toys out there, and some of them are just so wonderfully wrong you have to wish Lucasfilm really did sell them:

I love this look at George Lucas and all of his money:

Star Wars fans would buy all of that, even just as gag gifts.

Mark Hamill does have a great sense of humor and heart about all things Star Wars. Without Carrie Fisher, and without Harrison Ford's Han Solo after Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Hamill is pretty much carrying the entire old school load himself. He still has Anthony Daniels as C-3PO in Star Wars: Episode IX and he'll get an assist from Billy Dee Williams as Lando in the 2019 movie too. But we're all sad that Luke, Leia, and Han won't really get to be together on screen again.

J.J. Abrams is keeping a tight lock on Star Wars: Episode IX secrets, but that trailer is probably coming very soon. The film's title and trailer may even come our way as soon as this week through Star Wars Celebration 2019, which is being held April 11-15 in Chicago.

Star Wars: Episode IX opens in theaters December 20, 2019 as one of the many films worth keeping an eye on through our 2019 movie release date schedule.

Read More

Pet Sematary’s Director Says The Cats Were A ‘Pack Of Divas’

Pet Sematary’s Director Says The Cats Were A ‘Pack Of Divas’

There's an old adage in Hollywood that you should never work with kids or animals. However, sometimes that's simply unavoidable. If you're making a movie called Pet Sematary, you're going to have an awfully hard time making it work without including a few pets. In the story, a cat called Church has a major role, and in the new remake of the Stephen King story, it turns out that, shockingly, the eight cats that were needed to fill the role were something of a pain to work with. Different cats were needed depending on exactly what director Dennis Widmyer needed the cat to do, and every time, the cat needed to go through its "process" before performing like it was some kind of diva. According to Widmyer...

But these cats, they were able to train them and every cat had a different specialty. There was the cat that could hiss, the cat that could jump, the cat that could stare… They were like this pack of divas on set. You know, the cat would get on set and have to get acclimated, so all the actors would have to shut up and just kind of let the cat sniff everything for like ten minutes. So, we just sat there, and watched the cat.

Cats are not exactly known for their ability to be trained, and if you've ever owned one, you probably know exactly what that's like. It turns out that it is possible to train a cat, though apparently you can't train them to do more than one thing. Pet Sematary had to find eight identical cats in order to get Church to do everything he needed to do in the movie.

However, just because these cats were trained, doesn't mean they weren't normal cats. Put a cat in a new environment and they're going to explore, sniff, and rub up against anything it can get near. This is especially true if it's a place where other cats have been. One can imagine the crew bringing in one cat for a scene, waiting for it to rub up against every piece of furniture, filming the shot, then switching cats because another ability is needed, and the entire process repeats itself.

Of course, while it can be incredibly frustrating to put up with "diva" behavior from people, for some reason most of us are perfectly ok with it coming from our pets. As Dennis Widmyer describes this behavior to EW, none of this was beyond what all of us who have cats deal with on a daily basis. Most of us get to just ignore them. When you need them to stop marking the sofa and get on their mark, I suppose that can be a lot more annoying.

Read More

Why James Wan Probably Won’t Direct Another Conjuring Universe Movie, According To Peter Safran

Why James Wan Probably Won’t Direct Another Conjuring Universe Movie, According To Peter Safran

James Wan has an impressive history when it comes to launching and contributing to franchises, but he also notably doesn’t stick around in the director’s chair for very long with them. Going back to the start of his career, he’s brought us Saw, Insidious, and chapters of both Fast & Furious and the DC Extended Universe, but of all the direct follow-ups to those movies (a total of 11), he’s only directed two.

This is a trend that most recently continued with the developing Conjuring 3, with Michael Chaves (The Curse Of La Llorona) set to replace Wan after he directed the first two chapters in the series. This was seen as disappointing, if not unsurprising news, but now a bit of salt is being put in the wound, as producer Peter Safran has gone on the record saying that he believes the filmmaker’s time helming Conjuring Universe titles in general is probably at an end:

I don't think he will [direct another Conjuring movie]. That’s just me. My instinct is that he won’t. I think he really left everything out on the field with Conjuring 2. Just being by his side as he made that movie, I feel that he put everything that he'd learned up to that point into that film, from character development to scares to crafting sequences, just everything. I love the movie and I think that he felt like he did it, he really showed people exactly what he wanted to show them. The skills of a filmmaker telling a great story.

The subject of James Wan’s future with the Conjuring Universe was one that surfaced when I joined a small group of journalists to visit the set of the in-production Annabelle Comes Home on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California late last year. After having toured the Warren home and interviewed some of the lead actresses, we had the chance to sit down with Peter Safran and get his thoughts and opinions about the Annabelle trilogy-capper, and it was at the end of the conversation that the Wan question came up.

Peter Safran and James Wan have a built a solid working relationship, having made six films together in the last six years, so when the former expresses a particular read about the latter, it’s probably based on strong intuition. Furthermore, he definitely has a great beat on what the future holds for The Conjuring Universe, as he has produced every title released as part of the franchise so far.

On beyond the fact that James Wan seems to have a certain “rarely look back” perspective, Peter Safran brings up some really great points about The Conjuring 2. That movie is a beautiful and seriously scary piece of work, and one could definitely see why Wan may not feel compelled to return to the universe as a director going forward, instead pursuing other creative endeavors (like, perhaps, the developing Aquaman 2… which hasn’t yet nailed Wan down to direct just yet).

Of course, many in this situation would point out that it’s typically never smart to ever say “never” in this industry, as circumstances change all the time in Hollywood, and tomorrow James Wan could be struck with an idea he feels he must personally execute. Peter Safran most definitely left this possibility on the board with his answer, making particular note of Wan’s close relationship with the horror genre over the last 15 years. Said the producer,

I would be surprised if he ended up doing another one, but you never know. Guys like James, for him scares, it's in their blood. They need an outlet for it at some point, so maybe he is getting it as a producer. There is something very compelling about sitting there just wanting to scare the shit out of people.

Even if he’s not directing, James Wan’s relationship with The Conjuring Universe is as strong as ever, as he has produced every sequel and spin-off that has been made thus far, including the upcoming Annabelle Comes Home. We’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds.

On the subject of the third Annabelle film, it will be arriving in a theater near you very soon, as it is set up to be a nice summer scare-fest with its June 28th release date. Written and directed by Gary Dauberman (who makes his directorial debut after scripting all of the Annabelles and The Nun), the story is set over the course of one night as Judy Warren (McKenna Grace) and her babysitter (Madison Iseman) are tormented by the movie’s titular doll. Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, and Katie Sarife co-star.

This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to stories from my Annabelle Comes Home set visit, so be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend over the next few days for more!

Read More