|
05/01/23 @ 2:05 pm EST
 Global audiences have been gaga for Baba Yaga with Lionsgate/Thunder Road Films/87 Eleven’s John Wick: Chapter 4 now having passed the $400M mark worldwide, Deadline reports. The Keanu Reeves-starrer jumped out of the gate in late March, scoring a $137.5M global debut in a best-ever for the franchise. JW4 in mid-April then became the top-grossing film in the series; it’s also the best-reviewed John Wick movie ever at 94% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Currently, JW4 is estimated at $226M overseas and $402M global (+22% versus John Wick 3 – Parabellum’s final tally). That’s after a weekend that brought in another $10.1M from 86 international box office markets. The previous titles in the series have had staggered overseas releases while JW4 kicked off in 71 markets, the widest day-and-date release internationally for the franchise. 04/29/24 @ 9:34 pm EST
Deadline reports that Studiocanal and Editions Albert René have signed an exclusive development agreement for the fifth live action movie inspired by the adventures of French comic strip hero Asterix.The deal comes as French publishing house Éditions Albert René marks the 65th anniversary of the creation of the plucky Gaul warrior Asterix and his sidekick Obelix by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo in 1959.Since then, 400 million Asterix books in 130 languages and dialects have sold worldwide, with 40 albums of Asterix adventures published since 1961. The Asterix & Obelix comic books are embedded in French culture and have inspired five live-action films to date. No details on the storyline, schedule, cast or director were available as yet. 04/29/24 @ 9:29 pm EST
BOOM! Studios today revealed a first look at MAN’S BEST #3, the next issue of an action-packed sci-fi romp full of heart by Pornsak Pichetshote, writer of the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning The Good Asian, Eisner Award-nominated rising star artist Jesse Lonergan (Miss Truesdale and the Fall of Hyperborea), and letterer Jeff Powell (Infidel). Homeward Bound on an alien world, MAN’S BEST follows three emotional support pets living on the Starship Horizon—a spacecraft searching for a new home to house a humanity compromised by bad decisions and corporate greed, coming to comic shops this May. In the middle chapter of the epic space adventure featuring 3 animal best friends on a quest to save the earth, the splendor of the planet does little to comfort Athos as they feel at fault for the recent tragedy in the midst of searching for their missing comrade. And as they enter a new psychic realm and literally form a much deeper connection than before, what challenges and new discoveries lie ahead as they continue their desperate mission? MAN’S BEST #3 features a main cover by series artist Jesse Lonergan, and variant covers by fan-favorite artists JJ Harrison (New Masters), Paulina Ganucheau (Heartbeat), and Junggeun Yoon (The Expanse: Dragon Tooth). MAN’S BEST is the newest release from BOOM! Studios’ eponymous imprint, home to critically acclaimed original series, including BRZRKR by Keanu Reeves, Matt Kindt, and Ron Garney; Something is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera; Grim by Stephanie Phillips and Flaviano; Stuff of Nightmares by R.L. Stine and A.L. Kaplan; Damn Them All by Simon Spurrier and Charlie Adlard; Once Upon a Time at the End of the World by Jason Aaron, Alexandre Tefenkgi, Leila del Duca, and Nick Dragotta; Know Your Station by Sarah Gailey and Liana Kangas; A Vicious Circle by Mattson Tomlin and Lee Bermejo; The Neighbors by Jude Ellison S. Doyle and Letizia Cadonici; Ghostlore by Cullen Bunn and Leomacs; Sirens of the City by Joanne Starer and Khary Randolph; Coda by Simon Spurrier and Matías Bergara; Rare Flavours by Ram V and Filipe Andrade; Underheist by David and Maria Lapham; and Animal Pound by Tom King and Peter Gross. The imprint also publishes popular licensed properties, including Dune: House Harkonnen from Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson, and Michael Shelfer; Mighty Morphin Power Rangers by Melissa Flores and Simona Di Gianfelice; and The Expanse: Dragon Tooth by Andy Diggle and Rubine. MAN’S BEST #3 will be available in comic shops May 22, 2024. It is available for pre-order at your local comic shop. Digital copies can be purchased from content providers, including Kindle, iBooks, and Google Play. Man's Best #3 A Main: MAR240088 Man's Best #3 B Variant: MAR240089 Man's Best #3 C 1:25 INCV: MAR240090 Man's Best #3 D FOC Reveal Var: MAR240091 Man's Best #3 E Unlockable Var: MAR240092 Check out DYNAMIC FORCE'S interview with MAN'S BEST writer PORNSAK PICHETSHOTE by Byron Brewer. https://www.dynamicforces.com/htmlfiles/interviews.html?showinterview=IN02222412024        
... 04/29/24 @ 9:19 pm EST
Greg Berlanti and Netflix are going for a ride in the Mystery Machine.The streaming giant is near a deal for a live-action TV series based on the beloved Hanna-Barbera animated cartoon Scooby-Doo. The project has a script-to-series commitment at Netflix, meaning if the script is well received, it would trigger a straight-to-series order for what is considered a live-action update of the classic cartoon.Reps for Netflix, producers Warner Bros. Television and Berlanti Productions declined to comment, as a deal has not yet formally closed.Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg — who previously adapted Cowboy Bebop for Netflix and High Fidelity for Hulu — are attached to pen the script and exec produce via their Midnight Radio banner’s André Nemec and Jeff Pinkner. Berlanti and his Berlanti Productions partner Sarah Schechter will exec produce alongside the company’s Leigh London Redman. Berlanti Productions’ Jonathan Gabay and Midnight Radio’s Adrienne Erickson will be credited as co-exec producers. Warner Bros. Television, where Berlanti has been based for years, is the studio as the company owns animation studio Hanna-Barbera. (via The Hollywood Reporter) 04/29/24 @ 9:27 pm EST
Image Comics is pleased to reveal a sneak peek at the highly anticipated Blood Squad Seven by Joe Casey (MCMLXXV, Butcher Baker the Righteous Maker) and Paul Fry (Spider-Man 2099, Star Wars) set to hit shelves this May from Image Comics. Spinning out of the recent Dutch miniseries, this upcoming launch will explore ’90s superteam dynamics through a contemporary lens and feature surprise cameo appearances from some recognizable fan-favorite Image characters.
Thirty years ago, Blood Squad Seven was America’s most popular superhero team. Its members were seen on television, on magazine covers, scoring million-dollar endorsement deals…. They were celebrities and they were everywhere.
But that was then... this is now. And so, a new generation of modern-day heroes takes up the mantle—or perhaps, the poisoned chalice—fulfilling a promise made decades ago: to be the heroes that a fractured America needs.
While deconstructions of superhero nostalgia typically center around the classic characters of the Silver Age, Blood Squad Seven will delve deep into ’90s comic book themes with this reimagining of what would happen if heroes from that decade returned to action after a 30-year absence.
Variant covers for each issue of Blood Squad Seven will be provided by an army of celebrated artists, including: Chris Weston (Ministry of Space), Nick Pitarra (The Manhattan Projects), Jim Rugg (Street Angel), Chris Cross (Captain Marvel), Elizabeth Torque (Captain America: Secret Empire), Mike Hawthorne (Deadpool), Cory Walker (Invincible), Ryan Quackenbush (Junior Baker the Righteous Faker), Mirko Colak (Punisher MAX), Chris Sprouse (Tom Strong), Dustin Nguyen (Little Monsters), and many more.
Blood Squad Seven #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, May 22:
Cover A by Paul Fry - Lunar Code 0324IM161 Cover B by Chris Weston - Lunar Code 0324IM162 Cover C (1:10) by Nick Pitarrra - Lunar Code 0324IM163 Cover D (1:20) by Jim Rugg - Lunar Code 0324IM164 Cover E (1:50) by Fry - Lunar Code 0324IM165 Blood Squad Seven will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play. Check out DYNAMIC FORCE'S interview with BLOOD SQUAD SEVEN writer JOE CASEY by Byron Brewer. https://www.dynamicforces.com/htmlfiles/interviews.html?showinterview=IN04112484115         
... 04/29/24 @ 3:09 pm EST
Disney has dropped a teaser for Mufasa: The Lion King, a prequel for the studio’s 2019 photorealistic version of the animated 1994 classic The Lion King.Directed by Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), the film sees the baboon Rafiki to relay the legend of Mufasa to his granddaughter Kiara. According to the trailer description, the story will be told in flashbacks and follows Mufasa (meaning ‘king’ in Swahili) as an orphaned cub, lost and alone until he meets a sympathetic lion named Taka—the heir to a royal bloodline. The film is being released December 20, 2024. (via Deadline) Trailer: https://youtu.be/MjQG-a7d41Q 04/28/24 @ 3:00 pm EST
Is the future of physical media coming to an end? It used to be that DVD and Blu-Ray sales were the saving grace for some movies and you could walk into various stores and browse by genre in the same way you could for music. But like the music stores of the past, the days of swinging by your local shop and picking up the latest release are fading fast. Last year Netflix announced they were no longer doing the movie-by-mail program, so they wouldn’t be buying any more DVDs and Best Buy announced they were removing their Music/Movie sections as well. Now Target has come out and said they would be doing the same this year. A lot of studios have moved away from creating physical media, the exception being Disney who just made a deal with a third party to create their media and it has led to releases of WandaVision, Loki, Moon Knight, and the Mandalorian with SteeleBook editions. And when you purchase a movie or album digitally, there is always the chance that the hosting service you bought it on goes out of business, you will lose your purchases. While I don’t think there are any clear-cut answers here yet, I think the discussion definitely needs to be had. Physical media may seem antiquated to some, but when you computer crashes, your internet goes out or a company files bankruptcy… physical media may start looking a whole lot better.  04/28/24 @ 2:37 pm EST
The ouroboros created by the success of Marvel Studios is continuing with the latest round of speculation driven by nothing. With Marvel and other superhero films becoming so popular that it led to websites and YouTube channels focused on them and now those places need to keep feeding content to their viewers. So, when Michael B. Jordan reposts the trailer for the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine, we get stories of how this means he is going to return as Johnny Storm from the 2015 Fantastic Four film. Jordan did play a version of the Human Torch, but he’s also played Kilmonger in Black Panther so he could return as either character… or he could just be promoting the next movie from Marvel because he feels connected to the studio? This is the same type of thing as James Gunn posting the original Superman logo to social media last week and everyone running around trying to figure out what it means. It could just mean that Gunn had some free time and wanted to post something Superman related. This week he posted the bloodied fist of a Green Lantern as drawn by Dave Johnson. There are now articles trying to figure out what this means. He also posted a picture of his cat and then his two dogs… I’m sure this is supposed to mean we’re getting a Krypto & Streaky movie soon…  04/28/24 @ 2:13 pm EST
In an interview the other day, Nathan Fillion told the story of how he found out that he was going to be playing Guy Garner / Green Lantern in the upcoming Superman movie. The problem is that he made a slight error in his story, and it has led to a lot of online controversy. In the interview he said he ran into James Gunn at the premiere of Suicide Squad and was told there. Gunn took to social media to correct the statement, saying that it took place at the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 premiere instead. This made Zak Snyder fans come out and claim that Fillion’s story proves that Gunn had been lying about Henry Cavill and that now he was just trying to cover it up with his post. Supposedly the lie came about when Gunn said that he had no interest in taking over the DCU until Peter Safran came on board to do the “exec stuff” and could leave Gunn to do the creative stuff. Gunn stated he was confused and not sure who is supposed to have lied, he also made it clear that his Superman pitch was always geared for a new Superman from the beginning so it doesn’t really matter at which event Fillion found out, Gunn was never lined up to make a Cavill lead film.  04/27/24 @ 11:36 am EST
Being in Los Angeles in the late 90s gave you access to a local radio station, KROQ and their morning show Kevin & Bean. While the show was on for just shy of thirty years, it is notable for a couple of the people who made their name there before moving on. Impressionist and frequent Kevin Smith collaborator Ralph Garman was on the show from 1999 to 2017 and Matt “Money” Smith was on from 1999 to 2006 before going to work at ESPN. But the two biggest names were Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel was “Jimmy the Sports Guy” from 1994 to 1999 before leaving with Carolla to start The Man Show before creating Win Ben Stein’s Money and eventually getting his own late-night variety show on ABC. Comedian Carolla was on the show from 1995 to 1997 as a character named Mr. Birchum, a woodshop teacher who would call in to give messages to his students. That character is coming back in a new animated series for the Daily Wire. And joining Carolla will be a voice cast that includes: Megyn Kelly, Brett Cooper, Roseanne Barr, Danny Trejo, Rob Riggle, Patrick Warburton, Tyler Fischer, Alonzo Bodden, Kyle Dunnigan and Jay Mohr. It was recently announced that Sage Steele would be replacing Candace Owens who recently left the news platform. The show is set to premiere on May 12 on the DailyWire+.  04/27/24 @ 11:12 am EST
New on Netflix is the Dead Boy Detectives, based on the comics from The Sandman creator Neil Gaiman. It follows a pair of ghosts who instead of crossing over into the afterlife, decide to stay and help other phantoms with their problems. In the comics, the boys exist in the same world as Morpheus and the other characters from The Sandman, which is the plan here as well, but because of timing the producers needed to tweak a few things. Showrunner Steve Yockey said: “We knew we wanted to hang on to the boys’ backstory as much as we could. We obviously couldn’t do the full “Season of Mists” backstory, because they have not done that on The Sandman yet. And we were trying to exist within The Sandman universe without stepping on any toes. So we had to slightly tweak their backstories. We held on to the friendship as the core thing, and obviously the detective agency. And then Crystal, to a certain extent, has the same backstory from the comics. Everybody else is either a new creation or a new version of something that was in the comic books. We did a lot of reappropriating and moving things around. So it will feel familiar to readers of the comic book, but also hopefully surprise them in good ways.” But they did keep how the ghosts work directly from the comics. “The rules about how ghosts operate are laid out like in a two-page spread in the comic book, where it’s like, ‘Here are the ghost rules.’ So we took that and we ran with it. Then we did everything in our power to just work that internal logic pretty rigorously. But these rules are the rules.” As for the theme of the series, Yockey gave what might be the best elevator pitch line ever, “I’ve said from the beginning that we were trying to make The Hardy Boys on acid.”  ... |
