Monday, August 29, 2016

This Week In Movie News: 8/21 - 8/27


Hey there, movie fans!  Welcome to a new edition of THIS WEEK IN MOVIE NEWS, where we compile all the top movie news for the week and bring it to you all in one convenient place.  So, without further ado, here's the news:


MARTIN SCORSESE'S SILENCE CLOCKS IN AT 195 MINUTES


The newest film from master filmmaker Martin Scorsese, Silence, seems to harken back to the golden era of film when it wasn't uncommon to see a runtime over three hours, joining such films as Lawrence of Arabia, Gone With The Wind, and 1959's Ben-Hur.  The runtime, which is 195 minutes (3 hours and 15 minutes), was recently revealed by Variety's Kris Tapley on Twitter.


Silence is expected to have a limited U.S. release in November 2016, but no U.S. wide release is currently listed. 


NEW GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 CONCEPT ART SHOWS EPIC BATTLE


Guardians of the Galaxy director, James Gunn, recently Tweeted out an early peek of a beautiful piece of concept art for his sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which will be shown in the new issue of Empire Magazine.


The pic showcases the five main members of the team, Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, and the adorable baby Groot, battling a crazy-looking space alien.  This looks like it'll be a fantastic scene to see on the big screen.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 hits theaters on


HUGH JACK SAYS GOODBYE TO HIS WOLVERINE BEARD


Hugh Jackman has been playing the iconic X-Men character, Wolverine, for the better part of two decades, but as they say, all good things must come to an end.  

Jackman had already confirmed that his next Wolverine film, tentatively titled Wolverine 3, would be his last time putting on the claws.  Now, he's gone one step further, releasing a video of himself on Twitter as he shaves off the iconic Wolverine sideburns, as production has officially wrapped on the film.  Check out the video below:


Wolverine 3 hits theaters on March 3, 2017.


MARK MOTHERSBAUGH SET TO SCORE THOR: RAGNAROK 



It seems that Mark Mothersbaugh, composer and lead singer of the band Devo, will be taking on the task of scoring the upcoming third film in the Thor franchise, Thor: Ragnarok.  You may be familiar with Mothersbaugh's work as he has scored such films as Happy Gilmore, 21 Jump Street, The LEGO Movie, and Pitch Perfect 2.  He also served as the composer during the entire 13-year run of the very popular animated series Rugrats.

Thor: Ragnarok hits theaters on November 3, 2017.


SUICIDE SQUAD TOPS THE BOX OFFICE FOR THIRD WEEK IN A ROW


For the third week in row, DC's newest film, Suicide Squad, has taken the #1 spot at the box office, despite negative critical reviews.  The film has managed to make almost $600 million in just three weeks, making it a financial success for the company, even if they were hoping for more.  

Suicide Squad is currently in theaters, so if you haven't seen it yet, be sure to go check it out.


COMCAST BUYS DREAMWORKS ANIMATION FOR $3.8 BILLION


Comcast Corp. has finally closed its $3.8 million acquisition of Dreamworks Animation Studios.  Dreamworks will become part of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, which also includes Universal Pictures, Fandango, and NBCUniversal.  Dreamworks is best known for its major film franchises like Shrek, How To Train Your Dragon, and Kung Fu Panda.

The Dreamworks Animation brand will remain intact and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg will become the chairman of Dreamworks Animation New Media and will also serve as a consultant to NBCUniversal.


AFI CANCELS BIRTH OF A NATION SCREENING AND NATE PARKER Q&A


The American Film Institute (AFI) cancelled their recent screening and Q&A for Nate Parker's upcoming film, Birth Of A Nation, which was bought by Fox Searchlight back in January at the the Sundance Film Festival for a record-breaking $17.5 million.  This decision comes not long after the news of a 1999 rape case surfaced involving Parker and his co-writer Jean Celestin.

Earlier in the month, the alleged victim's brother spoke with Variety magazine about how his sister had committed suicide back in 2012.  Parker posted on Facebook that he was devastated by the news of her death, while maintaining his innocence.

Fox will hold a different AFI screening of Birth Of A Nation later this year and has vowed to continue its theatrical release and publicity tour for the Nat Turner biopic, despite the recent headlines involving Parker.

Birth Of A Nation is scheduled for theatrical release on October 7, 2016.


DOUG LIMAN SET TO DIRECT A JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK FILM; LEAVES GAMBIT


So it seems that there's more bad new for Fox's Gambit solo film as director Doug Liman has left the project.  But with this bad news comes some very good news as he has now signed on for DC's love action adaptation of Justice League Dark.  Originally, director Guillermo del Toro had plans of taking DC's Dark Universe and bringing it to the big screen, but with his hectic schedule, it never came to fruition.

While plot details are being kept under wraps, the story revolves around a darker, more magic-based team of some unlikely heroes including John Constantine, Swamp Thing, Deadman, Zatanna, and Etrigan the Demon.  The film will be an ensemble-driven film and will play a major role in the new DCEU.

No release date or production schedule has been announced as of yet.


JEREMY RENNER JOINS THE CAST OF THE NEW ANIMATED FILM ARCTIC JUSTICE: THUNDER SQUAD


Jeremy Renner is the latest star to join the cast of the upcoming animated film Arctic Justice: Thunder Squad.  He will join previously announced actors such as Alec Baldwin, James Franco, Anjelica Huston, and Omar Sy as a rag-tag group of inexperienced heroes who combine forces to thwart the evil Doc Walrus, voiced by John Cleese, and save the Arctic.  Renner will be voicing a fox named Swifty who works in the mail room of the Arctic Blast Delivery Service, but dreams of one day becoming a Top Dog (the Arctic's star husky couriers).

Arctic Justice: Thunder Squad hits theaters on January 26, 2018.


ILL STAR WARS FAN GETS FINAL WISH TO SEE ROGUE ONE EARLY


Last year, the Internet exploded with the #ForceForDaniel campaign to give a terminally ill man the chance to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens early.  Well, a new campaign recently took place, #RogueOneWish.  This campaign, similarly to the #ForceForDaniel one, was about giving a terminally ill man the opportunity to see the newest Star Wars film before its release.  The ill fan, Neil Hanvey, was granted his wish by Disney and Lusasfilm, and then, sadly, passed away the day after viewing the film.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on December 16, 2016.


STAN LEE GIVES HIS ENDORSEMENT TO THE CASTING OF ZENDAYA AS MARY JANE WATSON


Last week it was announced that Disney star Zendaya had been cast for the iconic role of Mary Jane Watson in the new Spider-Man film, Spider-Man: Homecoming starring Tom Holland.  With this announcement came a lot of backlash from people on the Internet complaining that Hollywood needs to stop changing the race of white comic book characters.

Well, the man himself, Stan Lee, who helped created the Marvel universe we all know and love, recently spoke out in defense of this casting saying it’s perfectly okay to change characters from the page to the screen, pointing to the late Michael Clarke Duncan as the Kingpin in 2003's Daredevil as an example.  “In the Daredevil movie, the Kingpin – who had been white in the comics – he was a black man playing the role, and he played it beautifully,” Lee said in an interview Monday with Postmedia.  "The color of their skin doesn't matter, their religion doesn't matter," Lee went on to say.  "All that matters is that this is the right person for the role."

Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters on July 7, 2017.


ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE SEQUEL IN THE WORKS


Rovio Entertainment has announced that a sequel to The Angry Birds Movie is currently in development.  The first film, which carried a $73 million budget, managed a worldwide gross of $347 million.  Rovio gave no further details about the sequel.  They noted that The Angry Birds Movie was released digitally in selected Asian markets and North America on July 29 and went to No. 1 on iTunes, followed by DVD and Blu-ray releases on Aug. 16. The in-home release of the film in other countries and territories continues to roll out in the weeks ahead, with most of Europe seeing the in-home release in September.


FLASH TO FACE OFF AGAINST THE ROGUES IN DCEU FILM


A source at The Wrap has seemingly confirmed the main focus of the upcoming DCEU film, The Flash, will be the titular character taking on The Rogues, a group of villains who aim to defeat The Flash at any cost.  We've already seen one of Flash's most infamous Rogues, Captain Boomerang, in the recent Suicide Squad film.  Some other possible Rogues include Captain Cold, Mirror Master,mHeat Wave, Weather Wizard, The Trickster, Pied Piper, and The Top.

The plot of the film is currently unknown.  It may be a prequel like Wonder Woman, or it may take place after the events of next year's Justice League.  Find out when The Flash hits theaters on March 16, 2018.


FIRST LOOK AT LUMIER AND COGSWORTH FROM LIVE ACTION BEAUTY AND THE BEAST REVEALED


We now have our first official look at Lumiere and Cogsworth, played by Ewan McGregor and Ian McKellen, in Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast!  Check out the image below:


We also got a look at Gaston’s tavern, featuring Gaston(‘s back) and Josh Gadd as Le Fou.  The life inside the set is nothing short of a live-action reimagining of the classic Disney song sequence.  Check it out below:


Beauty And The Beast hits theaters on March 17, 2017.



That's all the news for the week.  Make sure to check us out next week for all the latest movie news and be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all of our reviews, news, trailers, and much, much more!!!





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