Samuel L. Jackson Fought To Balance Comedy With Action In The New Shaft

Samuel L. Jackson Fought To Balance Comedy With Action In The New Shaft

When thinking about the Shaft franchise of films, comedy isn’t something that really springs to mind in the forefront of possibilities. But with the legendary bad mother heading back to screens later this month, in the second reboot to carry the Shaft name, it’s readily apparent that the smooth action will be balanced by a comedic tone that the series will be new to.

It’s a prospect that could scare both fans of the original and anyone new trying to get into the Shaft series with the fresh start offered by Tim Story’s reboot. But those concerns were put to ease to a certain extent, based on what Samuel L. Jackson told CinemaBlend and a selected group of journalists, during a set visit that took place early last year. In particular, Jackson provided the following commentary on how he fought to keep the balance between the jokes and the action:

The previous Shaft was a little more serious, I guess, in terms of what was going on between me and Peoples (Jeffrey Wright’s villain). The level of danger in this changes, because they want it to be light, and there was a conversation about it. The first script was a ‘ha, ha, ha, ha, ha’ script, and I’m like ‘Wait a minute, you really can’t do that because Shaft means something to us, iconically, historically, and mythologically.’ So we can show the lighter side of who he is, in terms of what his attitude is, but the level of danger, of what’s going on in the script, has to be the same thing. So when it’s serious, it has to be very serious.

Shaft certainly isn’t the first reboot to take a storied franchise and inject it with a sense of humor that wasn’t previously there. But as we’ve seen in the past, that experiment doesn’t always work, and sometimes can be kind of embarrassing. So it’s noteworthy and important when someone like Samuel L. Jackson, who is a fixture of the franchise since his turn in the John Singelton-directed 2000 movie, raises concerns as to how to make a leap into more comedic waters believable.

Samuel L. Jackson’s efforts seem to have worked pretty well, as in addition to the remarks he provided above, all on hand were shown a sizzle reel for the film, put together from raw footage of what Shaft had filmed up to that point. And from that early footage, the mixture of swagger and laughter seemed pretty balanced.

In one moment, Shaft is mocking his own son for his more modern sensibilities, and in the next he’s breaking a man’s arm for information. It’s something so legit, it was included in the film’s trailer; and that particular well of humor was something that Jackson also spoke towards during the Shaft set visit.

Complimenting what Samuel L. Jackson said about honoring the character and franchise that John Shaft and his descendants are at the heart of, Jackson discussed how the story of Jessie T. Usher’s JJ learning to become a true Shaft plays into the humor of the film. Which, according to Samuel L. Jackson, involves the following:

And to take a kid that [his mother] molded into what he is now: an I.T. graduate who’s an FBI agent, that has no real street sense, he’s a suburban kid who has the name Shaft. And now he’s in an environment that he has to live up to in a specific way. Because of who Richard [Roundtree] was, because of who I am, because of what he needs to be. So when people say, ‘That’s a Shaft,’ they have to see a Shaft. So he’s learning to be a Shaft against everything he’s been taught him.

The generation gap in the Shaft family is something that’s been played well in the marketing campaign for the film, so at least in that respect, the comedy/action mix looks to really be working. Three generations of complicated men, with no one to understand them but each other and the women in their lives, is something that assuredly lends itself to a fair amount of humor.

And as we’ve seen in the reactions to the looks at Richard Roundtree, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jessie T. Usher in action, the fans are ready to see this family team up to solve crime on the streets of any city they choose to hit. If everything else can line up in the constellation of jokes and jabs, this just might be the sleeper summer hit that Warner Bros. is hoping for the film to be.

Shaft opens in theaters on June 14, and if you’re interested in more content pertaining to the film’s release, stay tuned to CinemaBlend as we’ll have more coverage in the coming weeks.

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Watch Arnold Schwarzenegger Get Drop Kicked And Barely Flinch

Watch Arnold Schwarzenegger Get Drop Kicked And Barely Flinch

There’s a scene in 1984’s The Terminator where a group of punks attacks and stabs Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 in an ill-advised move that is completely ineffective against the machine. Arnold Schwarzenegger may not be a machine, but he also proved some imperviousness to attack over the weekend. At the Arnold Classic Africa sports festival, the actor barely flinched when drop kicked by a local idiot. Take a look:

First of all, Arnold Schwarzenegger let fans know on Twitter that he is totally fine and thankfully unhurt by the incident. He even said that he initially thought he was just jostled by the crowd. And you can understand how he might think that considering how often the famous actor finds himself in adoring crowds and how ineffectual the drop kick was.

Arnold asks if it was a block or a charge, and while that may be a fine distinction in basketball, this is clearly a charge-- albeit a weak one. As you can see in the video, this rando goes fully airborne and launches himself at Arnold, and the actor and fitness icon barely flinches upon impact-- only taking a couple of steps forward.

Arnie was busy taking a Snapchat and interacting with his fans when this happened, so he was completely unprepared for such a cowardly attack and thus unable to prepare or tense up and still he could not be felled. He may be 71-years-old but the muscle-bound actor who played Conan the Barbarian is not so easily moved.

The attacker is quickly subdued by a very large man and handed over to police officers according to BBC News. Since the incident, Arnold Schwarzenegger has let everyone know that he is not pressing charges and hopes that this serves as a wake-up call to the unnamed man to get his life on track. It’s quite merciful on Arnie’s part to not want to draw out the incident any longer or give his attacker any undue fame.

While this fool does not deserve any of the fame he so desperately and pathetically sought, Arnold Schwarzenegger understands the newsworthiness of the story. So he wants to highlight those people who do deserve fame and attention, specifically the athletes that participated in the Arnold Classic Africa sports festival in Johannesburg, South Africa.

As he says in his tweets, the event features 90 sports, from Arm Wrestling and Bodybuilding to Chess, E-Sports, Martial Arts and Deaf Sports, and hosts 24,000 athletes of all ages and abilities in the spirit of physical activity and competition. It is a shame that such nonsense happened there but hopefully it will bring greater awareness to the event and its message.

Later this year, Arnold Schwarzenegger will return to the role that made him famous as another immovable object for Terminator: Dark Fate. That film reunites him with Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor and hits theaters on November 1. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of all this year’s biggest movies.

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Woody Harrelson Is Having A Great Time With Zombieland: Double Tap

Woody Harrelson Is Having A Great Time With Zombieland: Double Tap

Fans are certainly hoping to enjoy the upcoming Zombieland sequel. Woody Harrelson is way ahead of us. The actor, who is currently in production on Zombieland: Double Tap, has nothing but good things to say so far. Not only does Harrelson say that the movie itself looks good, but he also adds he's personally just having a lot of fun making it. According to the actor...

What we’ve shot so far, I’m really impressed with. Getting to hang out with these guys — Emma, and Abbie, and Jesse, and Ruben — I feel so lucky, really, really lucky. You know, it’s literally laughing all day long, and that’s your job. Like, my job is, I laugh all day long? It seems unbelievable. So, I feel really lucky right now.

It often seems like actors just have the best job in the world already, but regardless of what your job is, if you don't enjoy it, it can still be a slog. Also, when people enjoy their work, the work itself tends to end up better. Based on that idea, it would seem that Zombieland: Double Tap is already shaping up to be a great movie.

Jesse Eisenberg had previously said the cast was working extra hard to make sure the movie was everything that fans have been waiting for. If they're both working hard and laughing all day, what more can you ask for?

A sequel to Zombieland has been one of those "maybe we'll get around to it" movies that fans have wanted, but never seemed to get much traction, since the original film came out a decade ago. However, it was a topic that screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick continued to be asked about and with each passing day it seemed like a sequel was slowly becoming a more likely idea. Then, last year, it was finally confirmed the sequel would actually happen.

The plot of Zombieland: Double Tap has not been officially revealed. Although, there have been rumors that it will focus on the team of Colombus (Jesse Eisenberg), Tallahassee (Harrelson), and Wichita (Emma Stone) chasing after Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) who has run away. Another rumor has indicated Bill Murray may actually reprise his popular cameo from the first film. He may also bring fellow Ghostbuster Dan Aykroyd with him.

A number of new characters will join the returning squad. Rosario Dawson, Zoey Deutch, and Luke Wilson are joining the cast. Most of the details are still under wraps concerning who they are or how they'll fit in the plot.

The details are less important than the film as a whole, and Woody Harrelson's comments to EW make it sound that the movie is going to be just as much fun as the well loved original. Zombieland: Double Tap is set to hit theaters October 11.

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Halle Berry Knows How To 'F--- Up' People After Training For John Wick 3

Halle Berry Knows How To 'F--- Up' People After Training For John Wick 3

Some minor spoilers for John Wick 3 can be found throughout this article.

By now, John Wick is a full-fledged franchise with an avid fanbase. On May 17, Lionsgate will release John Wick: Parabellum, the latest movie featuring our badass hero. This time around, the franchise is adding Halle Berry, and although she says she talked her way into the role, the training to play Sofia was intense.  At CinemaCon 2019 Berry admitted she feels comfortable enough having trained for John Wick 3 that she could handle herself in any situation. She noted:

It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life… It also changed my life but I learned skills that I can really use. I feel like if someone attacked me on the street, god bless them, because I know some shit now and I will fuck them up.

During the Lionsgate panel at CinemaCon 2019, Halle Berry admitted that even before the script was written for John Wick: Parabellum she knew she was correct for the role. She met with director Chad Stahelski and convinced him she was a good fit for the role.

But then the training started. The actress talked about how grueling working on John Wick: Parabellum was.

It all showed in the final project.

This week at CinemaCon, footage was debuted from the upcoming threequel. In it, Sofia and John Wick are taking on a large lot of bad guys, as people are wont to do in action movies. In one scene in particular, Halle Berry’s character is kicking a bad guy’s ass when another bad guy starts shooting from above. Sofia literally calls her dog, the dog jumps off the back, scales a giant wall and takes down the bad guy from above. Talk about stunts.

Chad Stahelski is known for action sequences and the new look at the movie didn’t disappoint. Look, if you’ve seen the early footage from the trailer for John Wick: Parabellum, or really either of the other movies, you kind of know what you are getting into, but the reaction when Halle Berry let a dog jump off her back was audible, and I hope everyone reading this has the same experience in the theater.

Later in the clip we saw, John Wick is caught in the middle of taking down myriad bad guys. He runs out of bullets just as his opponent does but manages to reload quickly to take out his opponent and another on the ground.

Although this footage isn't out and about yet, the movie is coming and it's coming soon. Catch the movie starting on May 17, and before you do that be sure to take a look at what we know about Chapter 3 of the saga.

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Sounds Like Die Hard 6 Is Up In The Air After Disney Deal

Sounds Like Die Hard 6 Is Up In The Air After Disney Deal

The Disney/Fox deal has left plenty of questions on the table. One question that hasn't come up as often as, say, Will The X-Men Join The MCU? is What Will Happen With Die Hard 6? The movie got as far as a title, McClane, and early news that Bruce Willis would return, along with a new actor playing a younger John McClane.

The first five Die Hard movies were distributed by 20th Century Fox. Now Fox titles are owned by Disney. So when Die Hard 6 producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura was asked if they had a start date yet for McClane, he added Disney to his answer:

I wish, not yet. I don’t know what’s going to happen there. It’s really up to them because obviously now they’re owned by Disney. My sense is that we won’t know much about it for a while while they debate whatever they’re debating. I don’t know enough about their plans really to have any point of view. They like our script.

"They" like the script -- that's a good sign, even if the specifics of "they" weren't discussed in his chat with /FILM. There's been a lot of talk about the script in the past year. Bruce Willis talked about checking out the script a year ago. Shortly after that, reports came out claiming The Conjuring writers Chad and Carey Hayes were hired to write the next Die Hard script.

In September, Lorenzo Di Bonaventura told Empire the movie's title would be McClane, saying "We want you to get invested in John McClane more than ever before." At the time, he confirmed McClane would bounce back and forth between older present day McClane, played by Bruce Willis, and a younger McClane to be cast in his 20s. The film was previously being eyed as Die Hard: Year One.

In late January, Film Stories UK talked to Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and he told the site McClane was still moving forward with Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard) attached to direct. But as of March 20, 21st Century Fox is part of The Walt Disney Company. There's a lot to sort through in the transition, including layoffs and release date changes.

Hope is not lost for Die Hard 6/McClane, but it just seems to be in limbo, along with many other films. It was already in limbo as the script was developed. Based on Lorenzo Di Bonaventura's latest comments, it sounds like they've landed on a script they like, it's just a matter of who is now in charge of moving the project forward and deciding what stays and what goes. As he hinted, we may not know much about it for a while as The Powers That Be sift through the many Disney/Fox projects in development.

As we wait to see whether Mickey Mouse kills off John McClane or helps get him back on screen soon, keep up with what we do know is coming to theaters this year with our 2019 movie release date schedule.

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Kevin Feige ‘Wasn’t Pleased’ With Those Avengers: Endgame Leaks

Kevin Feige ‘Wasn’t Pleased’ With Those Avengers: Endgame Leaks

After a long year of waiting, the time is finally upon us. Avengers: Endgame arrives in theaters this week, picking up the narrative from Infinity War. The Russo Brothers shocked audiences by having Thanos win the day, and wipe out half of all life with the snap of his fingers. Audiences watched in horror as countless fan favorites faded to dust, and were left wondering what TF could happen next.

Marvel Studios has been guarding its secrets for the past year, focusing on Ant-Man and The Wasp and Captain Marvel before revealing the first trailer and title of Endgame. But with days left before Endgame's premier, spoilers began leaking online. Now Marvel Studios Kevin Feige has addressed these leaks, saying:

I wasn’t pleased. It’s not cool. It’s not fun. But the response was what I expected, which was everybody turning it off, dismissing it, ‘Don’t watch it, don’t spoil it for anybody else.’

Considering how methodically Marvel has released information about Endgame, you can't blame Kevin Feige for being miffed about spoilers hitting the web before its release. But there is a silver lining: most fans have actively avoided them, attempting to get the full theatrical experience for the movie's opening weekend.

Kevin Feige's comments to The Associated Press make a great deal of sense, especially given how high the stakes of Avengers: Endgame are. Aside from picking the story from Infinity War, The Russo Brothers' highly anticipated blockbuster has been teased as the cumulation of the last 21 movies. Endgame's runtime is longer to accommodate the various plot lines, and the fandom deserves to experience each surprise. They've been shelling out money for a decade, after all.

The marketing campaign for Avengers: Endgame has been purposefully vague, mostly setting up the bleak world after Thanos' finger snap of death (aka The Decimation). While the surviving heroes will attempt to unite the stones and reverse Thanos' mass extermination, it's unclear exactly how. We have a ton of questions ahead of the film's release, and the limited footage doesn't answer much. So if the fandom actively tries to avoid spoilers, they should hopefully be able to see Endgame without knowing anything about the film's contents.

Related: 10 Questions We Still Have About Avengers: Endgame

The next few days are crucial regarding Endgame spoilers, as the movie is finally being screened for the press and insiders. We're also only a day away from early Thursday shows, so social media will be a dangerous place for cinephiles waiting for their showing. CinemaBlend will continue covering the fourth Avengers flick but any spoiler-ey content will have a warning at the top of the page.

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

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Captain Marvel Brought Marvel To A Box Office Milestone

Captain Marvel Brought Marvel To A Box Office Milestone

Heading in to its second weekend, Captain Marvel is an unmitigated financial success. Carol Danvers had the biggest March opening ever, the 2nd biggest worldwide opening for any superhero movie and the film has already passed the $500 million milestone. Captain Marvel does not exist in a vacuum though; it is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and its success has rocketed Marvel higher, further, faster to a new box office milestone.

Captain Marvel is the 21st entry into the MCU canon and combined, those 21 titles have now surpassed $18 billion in worldwide ticket sales, according to Variety. That’s billion with a ‘B’ and the MCU is now a member of the three-comma club 18 times over. I guess a $455 million worldwide opening weekend will do a lot to help you reach box office milestones.

If you do the math on that $18 billion over 21 movies, each Marvel movie is worth 4/5th of a billion dollars, or to be more exact, assuming my math is closer to Bruce Banner’s than the Hulk’s, $857.14 million. Or, to put another way, in roughly 11 years in existence, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has averaged about $1.63 billion a year.

The MCU has been the most successful franchise in movie history for a while now, and the $18 billion milestone just further cements the brand’s unparalleled and unprecedented achievements. There is something cool about the fact that it was Captain Marvel, a hero with Marvel in her name that added this notch to Marvel’s belt.

Captain Marvel was just the first entry in the MCU’s stacked 2019 though and Marvel may add a few more billion-dollar notches before it’s all said and done. Captain Marvel is now at $524 million worldwide and is tracking to add another $70-$85 million in its second weekend domestically.

Beyond Captain Marvel is Avengers: Endgame, which premiered a new trailer this morning. That film, the capstone on Phase 3 and the first 11 years of the MCU may hit an absolutely insane $282 million in its opening weekend just domestically. Avengers: Infinity War hit $2 billion worldwide and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Endgame repeat that feat with another $2 billion to follow up Captain Marvel. It’s a good thing too, Disney has bills to pay.

With Spider-Man: Far From Home on the way in July (a Sony film that is still MCU even if Disney doesn’t get the money from it) the MCU will certainly pass the $20 billion milestone at the worldwide box this year.

It is truly remarkable considering how it was only around the turn of the millennium that comic book movies became good and respected after wallowing in mediocrity for a long time. There was even a time not long ago when loving comic books and superheroes was something you didn’t advertise because it was considered uncool. Now superheroes are literally the biggest thing in the history of the movie business the world over and it’s not even close. That's pretty neat.

Captain Marvel is now playing. Check out our 2019 release schedule to keep track of all the biggest films arriving this year and stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all your movie news.

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