Luke And Leia Being Siblings Started A Decades-Long Inside Joke With Mark Hamill And Carrie Fisher

Luke And Leia Being Siblings Started A Decades-Long Inside Joke With Mark Hamill And Carrie Fisher

While the original Star Wars trilogy will always be remembered first and foremost for the big twist revealing the relationship between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, there was also a second Skywalker family twist that few people saw coming. The revelation that Luke and Princess Leia were actually siblings.

Recently, Mark Hamill responded to a fan on Twitter, and revealed that when the actors themselves learned about the twist, it spawned a on going joke between the two that would continue for years to come.

It seems Carrie Fisher quite enjoyed being Star Wars royalty, and either didn't want to share, or just enjoyed telling Mark Hamill that he didn't get to join the club. Considering the sort of friendship that the two apparently had, it was likely the latter.

To be fair, I'm not sure that Carrie Fisher was entirely wrong here. Leia was a princess of Alderaan but was adopted, so her having a sibling shouldn't matter when it comes to the family line. Luke and Leia's mother was a Queen of Naboo, that is true, but on that planet the position of Queen was actually an elected position, not one that came about via bloodline. And Amidala wasn't even Queen when her kids were born, she was a senator of the Galactic Republic.

As far as Lord Vader goes. That title was clearly honorary and did not denote any actual royal position. He was a Lord of the Sith, after all. Since the Sith are only supposed to have two positions, a master and an apprentice, it's not even clear what Vader was actually supposed to be a lord over.

So I'm pretty sure that Luke Skywalker really was just a commoner, though the title of Jedi Knight is nothing to sneeze at.

Still, one can imagine Carrie Fisher frustratingly, and hilariously, putting up with Mark Hamill's various arguments over the years as to why his character should be considered royalty.

While Hamill and Fisher may have been siblings on screen they were clearly close friends off and the loss of the actress has weighed heavily on him. He still continues to remember her and speak openly about her over two years after her death. He must miss asking her questions about his royal status.

While we thought we were witnessing Carrie Fisher's final performance in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, we know now that wasn't the case. The actress will return in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker via the use of inserting unused footage from the previous films in the trilogy. Exactly how that will work remains to be seen, but Fisher was seen in the Episode IX teaser trailer in a shot that's already breaking my heart.

We don't really know what The Rise of Skywalker has in store for us. Perhaps Luke Skywalker will posthumously be given a royal title. I'm sure Carrie Fisher would have loved that.

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Millie Bobby Brown Says Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Needs To Be Seen On The Big Screen

Millie Bobby Brown Says Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Needs To Be Seen On The Big Screen

As far as film franchises go, there are none that go back quite as long as Godzilla. Dating back to 1954, the behemoth creature has been thrilling audiences for decades. And the big green guy will once again return to theaters with Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which is set to arrive in theaters in a matter of days.

The anticipation for Godzilla: King of the Monsters has been steadily building, as footage revealed the myriad monsters that will be battling for supremacy in the upcoming blockbuster. Fans are also excited to see Stranger Things favorite Millie Bobby Brown in the movie, and the 15-year old actress recently implored moviegoers to see it on the big screen. She said:

It’s a spectacular and thrilling cinematic experience that people should experience on a big screen. We had so much fun making it and that’s why people should go and see it so that they can actually feel what we felt which was just ultimate fun.

The Godzilla franchise focuses on larger than life creatures, and technology has made anything impossible in the past few years. King of the Monsters includes a number of beloved characters, and they'll appear even bigger on a larger screen. According to Millie Bobby Brown, the end result is quite the theatrical experience.

Millie Bobby Brown's comments to THR are sure to excite fans of the franchise. Rather than simply focusing on the title character or one adversary, Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a true ensemble movie as far as behemoth creatures go. It's a veritable whose who of Godzilla icons like Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidora. And watching it on your own TV just won't do the scale of the movie justice.

Legendary's MonsterVerse has been steadily building over the past few years, and seen some solid success at the box office. Gareth Edward's 2014 Godzilla movie was a strong reboot to the franchise, and earned great reviews, on top of making $529.1 million. Kong: Skull Island performed similarly in both critically and financially, helping to set up the eventual clash of these titans.

Related: Upcoming Godzilla Movies: List Of Titles And Release Dates

But before Godzilla and King Kong come to blows, he'll have to become the King. This will put him in conflict with some of the Godzilla franchise's most beloved titans, as well as the impressive cast of actors that director Michael Dougherty assembled to play the human characters. Joining Millie Bobby Brown are Vera Farmiga, Ken Wantanabe, Charles Dance, Bradley Whitford, and Sally Hawkins.

We'll just have to see how many of them make it through the conflict, and hopefully return for a future. installment of the MonsterVerse. Serialized storytelling has become commonplace since the inception of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and crossovers are clearly coming down the line in Godzilla Vs. Kong.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters will move the MonsterVerse forward when it arrives in theaters on May 31st. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

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Terminator: Dark Fate Used A Clever Sarah Connor Callback To Reveal New Poster

Terminator: Dark Fate Used A Clever Sarah Connor Callback To Reveal New Poster

There's no fate but what we make for ourselves, and fans took that very seriously when it came to the Terminator: Dark Fate poster. You may know that tomorrow -- Thursday, May 23 -- we are getting the first official trailer for Terminator 6. A day ahead of schedule, the movie's official poster was revealed. The reveal used a perfect callback to the first movie, 1984's The Terminator, just using social media instead of a phone book.

Before the official Terminator: Dark Fate site shared the poster of Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor, the wise sages at The Terminator Fans discovered that the poster had already been quietly shared another way:

Yes, there's a new account called @SarahConnor829 -- with that August 29 date having special significance as Judgment Day itself. That account just opened and only shared one tweet, the poster that the fans quickly found.

The official Terminator: Dark Fate Twitter account reposted the above tweet with congratulations:

You've identified the official poster. She is the one we've been looking for.

Here's a little more background on Paramount's clever marketing twist for the poster. In an ode to Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1984 Terminator going through the phone book to find and kill off any and all Sarah Connors to get to the right one, there was a Twitter list created of Sarah Connors. A Sarah Connor account within the list launched the poster early Wednesday morning -- the day before the trailer release -- and The Terminator Fans site found the right one.

Here's a full look at the poster, which was shared with the caption "Welcome to the day after Judgment Day":

Terminator: Dark Fate is meant to be a sequel to both The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day -- considering "forgettable" films Terminator 3, Terminator Salvation, and Terminator Genisys as happening in alternate timelines. T2 ended with Sarah and John Connor driving away down a highway, and that's another reference you can see in the new Dark Fate poster.

As you can see with this poster, Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor is front and center in the promotion for Terminator: Dark Fate. In this case, she walks alone, even though she will be joined by several old and new characters. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be returning as T-800, with newcomers including Mackenzie Davis as assassin-from-the-future Grace, Natalia Reyes as Dani Ramos, Diego Boneta as Dani's brother, and Gabriel Luna as the new Termintator. The new liquid metal Terminator can duplicate himself, and apparently he has been sent to terminate Dani, while Grace is meant to protect her.

Linda Hamilton said James Cameron is the one who convinced her to come back for Terminator: Dark Fate. He directed her in the first two movies, but now he's "just" a hands-on producer, although he's also on the list of story-by credits. Tim Miller (Deadpool) is the one who directed Terminator 6.

CinemaBlend already got to see some early footage from Terminator: Dark Fate at CinemaCon 2019 and shared a promising update.

Fans will get their first looks at Terminator: Dark Fate footage when the first trailer drops tomorrow morning, Thursday, May 23. The movie is scheduled to open in theaters on November 1, 2019. Keep up with all of the 2019 release dates with our handy guide.

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Liam Neeson Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop Making Action Movies

Liam Neeson Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop Making Action Movies

There was a time when the name Liam Neeson was synonymous with high caliber dramatic films and period pieces, movies like Schindler's List, Michael Collins, and Rob Roy. However, these days Neeson spends much more time making "one man versus an army" action movies. His most recent in the genre was 2018's The Commuter, and now he's heading back in to make yet another with a new film called The Minuteman.

The new movie will see Liam Neeson as a retired Vietnam veteran who finds himself protecting a young boy that's being hunted by a cartel. The project will be directed by Robert Lorenz, a longtime producing partner of Clint Eastwood, who previously directed Eastwood's Trouble with the Curve.

Liam Neeson starred in Taken back in 2008 and the movie was such a huge hit that it not only spawned a pair of sequels, but also an entire new genre for Neeson to get involved in. While none of Neeson's action films have been able to quite replicate the success of the original taken, the films' modest budgets tend to mean that they do well enough at the box office even that if they don't break the bank, they are still considered successful.

Liam Neeson is 66 years old and as such he wouldn't necessarily be your first thought when it comes to major action heroes, but it really can't be argued that he''s able to make it work. He's somehow believable even at that age, something not everybody can pull off.

Even Neeson himself has said that eventually he feels like audiences will stop buying him in the role of action star at some point, but he seems to enjoy making the movies and that means he'll continue to make them until he stops getting the roles.

It should also be said that at least part of the reason Liam Neeson seems to be getting so many of these roles is that he has more success with them than others. Other aging actors from Mel Gibson to Sean Penn have tried their hands at the older action hero genre, but none have done as well with it as Neeson.

Details on The Minuteman are light from THR, but it seems certain that Liam Neeson will be beating the hell out of cartel members for most of the runtime. The lack of detail means it's impossible to tell if there's much to set this story apart or if it will be just another film like Non-Stop or A Walk Among the Tombstones, that have already been largely forgotten among the litany of action films Neeson has made in recent years.

Still, if you're a fan of action star Liam Neeson, the fact that another project is on the way is good news however you look at it.

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Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Made Sure Ghidorah Didn't Look Like Other Dragons

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Made Sure Ghidorah Didn't Look Like Other Dragons

Dragons are a huge part of pop culture right now thanks to Game of Thrones, which set a new bar for what dragons (or wyverns) can look like onscreen. Because of that, any property looking to use dragons will have to distinguish them from what else is out there. Although Godzilla: King of the Monsters doesn’t feature a dragon in the traditional sense either, Ghidorah is dragon-like and therefore couldn’t be like other dragons, as the film’s production designer Scott Chambliss explained:

Ghidorah is from another planet and he’s basically the heavy in the film. One of the challenges was, we’re inundated with dragons in our culture right now. So, Ghidorah risks being the most ho-hum of [the monsters in the film]. What Michael did was, he played on the very human characteristics. He played on characteristics that we associate with human beings but he applied them to the monsters. Ghidorah, with his three heads, was an opportunity to have three different aspects of a generally similar creature.

Dragons are always awesome and it’s hard to imagine them ever becoming passé, but Scott Chambliss’ point stands. He and director Michael Dougherty didn’t want Ghidorah to be just another dragon; instead, they wanted him to be memorable and stand on his own as a creature that thrills audiences and feels like something different on the big screen.

That was obviously very important because Ghidorah isn’t just another creature among the sea of titans in the film, he’s the big bad, the King whose crown and title Godzilla must claim if the planet and humanity are to survive. So basically, he has to be cool and badass and unlike the dragons people are used to seeing.

To achieve that, Michael Dougherty gave Ghidorah human characteristics, as Scott Chambliss told Entertainment Weekly. Ghidorah and the rest of the titans aren’t just mindless killing machines. The titans all have their own motivations and unique personalities. We’ve seen dragons have personalities before; Drogon was not thrilled to see his mom hooking up with some stranger.

The difference with Ghidorah is that, to steal a line from the Game of Thrones source material, the dragon has three heads. Ghidorah isn’t a robot and his heads aren’t all acting in unison in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Despite sharing a body they each have different personalities unique to them, just as humans and animals do. So that will allow us to see different sides of Ghidorah and make him a more fully realized character, even if he doesn’t talk.

The film even used three different actors to portray Ghidorah's three heads via motion capture, giving each a unique performance. How all that will manifest itself for Ghidorah in and out of battle in the film we’ll have to wait and see, but it is something we’ve seen with multi-headed dragons before, like with Zak and Wheezie in Dragon Tales and Devon and Cornwall in Quest for Camelot.

The human personalities aren’t the only distinguishing factor for Ghidorah though. Although the Targaryen sigil may be a three-headed dragon, we aren’t used to seeing an actual three-headed dragon-like creature onscreen and in the trailers we’ve already seen how cool and effective that can be in battle.

Also, Ghidorah is not of this world and is thus seems more science fiction than fantasy. He also stands more upright than most dragons and despite being winged, scaled and with dragon-like heads, he doesn’t breathe fire and instead shoots lightning.

You can see King Ghidorah in all his glory when Godzilla: King of the Monsters arrives in theaters on May 31. Check out our 2019 release schedule to see all the biggest movies headed your way this summer.

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Morbius, An Updated Cast List

Morbius, An Updated Cast List

Along with lending Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and telling animated tales about the Web-Slinger, Sony Pictures has also kicked off its own shared film universe centered around Spidey’s extensive cast of characters. Venom kicked things off last October and the next movie up is Morbius, which will follow, you guessed it, Morbius the Living Vampire. As was the case with Venom, it’s weird at first imagining Morbius jumping to the silver screen and not clashing with Spider-Man, but writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless have crafted a tale for the tragic vampire to shine on his own, one which director Daniel Espinosa is helming.

It’s early into Morbius’ production, but with cameras now rolling, more details are slowly coming out about the comic book movie, including who will comprise the main cast. Here are all the Morbius performers who’ve been announced to the public so far.

Jared Leto

Seven months after Sony announced that Morbius was on the way, Jared Leto was cast in the eponymous role. Although no specific details about Leto’s version of Morbius the Living Vampire have been revealed yet, his origin story is expected to unfold similarly to his comic book counterpart’s. In the Marvel Comics universe, Michael Morbius was a renowned biochemist who used a treatment of vampire bat DNA and electroshock therapy to cure his rare blood condition. He succeeded, but the cost was being turned into a pseudo-vampire who now had to ingest fresh blood on a daily basis to stay alive. If one unofficial plot description is to be believed, Leto’s Morbius will use his new abilities to prey on criminals he deems are unworthy to live, thus putting him in the anti-hero mold like Venom. This will be Leto’s second time appearing in a comic book movie, with his first go-around being as The Joker in Suicide Squad. His other acting credits include Requiem for a Dream, Lord of War, Dallas Buyers Club and Blade Runner 2049.

Adria Arjona

Moviegoers probably know Adria Arjona as Jules Reyes in last year’s Pacific Rim Uprising, while TV viewers might remember her as Dorothy in the NBC miniseries Emerald City. The actress’ other upcoming projects include Netflix’s Triple Frontier and Amazon’s Good Omens, but Morbius is arguably the biggest of the bunch. Arjona will be playing Martine Bancroft, who in the comics was Michael Morbius’ fiancée. Michael’s love for Martine is what drove him to take such drastic measures to cure his blood disorder, and like the man she intended to marry, she would also become a vampire years later. It’s hard to say how much Arjona’s version of Martine will have in common with the original character, including if she’s even engaged with Jared Leto’s Michael Morbius at the start of the movie, but expect her to be integral to the story.

Matt Smith

Most of you probably know Matt Smith best for playing the Eleventh Doctor on Doctor Who from 2010 to 2013, but he’s collected a number of other notable projects for his resume, including Terminator Genisys, The Crown, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX. Morbius marks Smith’s first foray into the comic book genre, though given how much time he’s spent in the sci-fi and fantasy realms, this shouldn’t feel too different. It remains to be seen if Smith will be playing an ally or enemy to Morbius, though if he falls into the latter category, perhaps he’ll be playing Loxias Crown, an adaptation of the super villain Crown (who both Spider-Man and Morbius have fought in the comics) who’s rumored to be Morbius’ main antagonist.

Jared Harris

From movies like Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. to TV shows like Fringe and Mad Men, Jared Harris has assembled a diverse amount of credits over his acting career, and Morbius is the latest project that’s been added to the list. Like with Matt Smith, we have no clues yet as to who Harris is playing, although given his various villainous turns over the years, he could easily fill that main antagonist role as well. However, another possibility is that Harris will play Emil Nikos, a fellow biochemist who was best friends with Michael Morbius in the comics. Sadly, when Michael turned into a vampire, Emil was his first victim, so if events unfold similarly in the Morbius movie, then Harris might not have that much screen time, unless he’s revived as a vampire later.

Tyrese Gibson

Like Jared Leto, Tyrese Gibson has built an acting career alongside his singing career, with his most prominent onscreen performances being as Roman Pierce in the Fast and the Furious movies and Robert Epps in the Transformers franchise. Now he’s in talks to join Morbius, although as we’ve come to expect, no details have been provided about who he’ll play. According to THR, Gibson would play “an FBI agent trying to hunt down the living vampire.” So along with whatever supernatural trouble Morbius will be dealing with, he’ll also have this government operative on his tail, although perhaps circumstances will result in the two having to join forces.

Morbius will sink its teeth into theaters on July 10, 2020. Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for updates on the project, and be sure to browse through our 2019 release schedule to learn what movies are hitting the silver screen later this year.

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Zachary Levi Feels Like He Needs To Apologize For All The Shazam! Advertising

Zachary Levi Feels Like He Needs To Apologize For All The Shazam! Advertising

Zachary Levi is everywhere right now, and he's sorry. Kinda. The Shazam! star is clearly thrilled, but also humbled and a bit embarrassed at the massive marketing campaign for his DC movie. He is the face of the movie, and that face has been on billboards all over the place. Levi joked that it's a bit much, even to him:

It's a little abrasive, actually. I'm so unbelievably impressed by Warner Bros.' and New Line's promotional campaign. Like, I am everywhere, to the point where I feel like I have to apologize to people. Now I'm sorry. It was one thing when I was in a lot of places, and now it's like people can't go by a bus stop without being like, 'There's Zach, chewing bubblegum again.' So I apologize to anyone this is becoming ridiculous to.

No apology necessary. Shazam! seems to have a lot of supporters out there, and Zachary Levi's enthusiasm is infectious. He shared his advertising apology with ET on the red carpet of his movie's big Hollywood premiere.

Just last week, Zachary Levi pointed to himself in a gigantic ad in New York City. He seemed pretty happy about that, feeling like he finally made it.

He shared more of his gratitude and humility on Instagram, sharing photos from the Shazam! premiere.

As he wrote in part of that very candid post:

Truth is, I nearly gave up on the whole damn thing. Because of some bad programming I received as a kid, and despite the incredible jobs that I had been a part of, I still felt like a failure. That I had not, and would not, accomplish what I always thought I could or would or should. And then, perhaps in my darkest dark, I was able to save my own life thru the love and support and my friends and family, and the help of incredible professionals who took my hand and gently walked me back to understanding and loving myself, perhaps for the first time in my entire life. There is not a doubt in my mind that I was only standing on that red carpet last night BECAUSE I first learned to love myself while standing OFF of it.

Wow. Good for him. This has to be such an exciting time for Zachary Levi, and the whole cast and crew.

Shazam! officially opens next Friday, April 5, but it already screened for critics and some lucky fans at preview screenings. Those early screenings actually made more money than the previews for DC's Aquaman. Critics have raved about the movie, which currently has a 93% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

So far, the ride seems to be pretty smooth for Zachary Levi and Warner Bros./DC in the wake of Aquaman's $1 billion hit -- and also in the sandwich between Marvel's Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame. There doesn't seem to be much pressure on Shazam! to do anything more than it's already doing. However, the whole team would clearly love to come back and do this again in Shazam! 2, and that's going to take a strong box office showing. We'll see. Here's what else is headed to theaters as busy 2019 continues.

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