Looks like Queen Bey could be adding superhero to her resumé
Could Beyonce be the next female Marvel superhero?
There is some keen interest in Queen Bey joining the cast of The Avengers.
Marvel and Disney bosses are said to be considering the singer and actress for a role in an upcoming film.
Beyonce has already acted in several films including Dreamgirls and Cadillac Records, as well as lending her voice to animated film Epic.
Solange and Beyonce attend the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
According to the Daily Star producers believe the Run The World hitmaker could add millions to the Avengers franchise if she starred alongside Scarlett Johansson and Elizabeth Olsen.
A senior executive at film distributor Disney said: “We would love to have Beyoncé on board, almost certainly as a newcomer to the screen from Marvel’s existing catalogue of comic book characters.”
Much has been made in the last two months of actor Mark Ruffalo’s comments about the future of the Marvel superhero Hulk on the big screen. In an interview with Collider, Ruffalo stated, “As far as a Hulk movie, a standalone Hulk movie, Marvel doesn’t really have the rights to that yet. That’s still Universal’s property, so there’s that issue. That’s a big impediment to moving forward with that.” And ever since, fans and media outlets have been speculating about Marvel not owning the rights to the Hulk on film, and there’s been a lot of guesswork about what precisely Ruffalo was referring to. Since the details of these rights deals are rarely made public in all their little nuances, the uncertainty about precisely who owns what and — most importantly — why Marvel hasn’t made a Hulk sequel yet continues to vex fans and press alike. So let me clear it all up for everyone once and for all, with the specific correct details for you.
Hulk 4
Marvel regained the film production rights to the Hulk in 2005, after Universal’s license of the character lapsed due to failure to enter production on a sequel to 2003′s Ang Lee film Hulk. In February 2006, Morton Handel — then-chairman of Marvel Entertainment – said during an earnings report announcement, “Several watershed events in 2005 have set the stage for the next phase of Marvel’s growth. … We are actively working on scripts for Captain America, Ant-Man and Nick Fury… In addition, the rights for Hulk and Iron Man reverted back to Marvel.” Later in 2006, Marvel successfully regained the film production rights to Captain America and Thor as well.
But despite obtaining the cinematic rights to make Hulk movies, Marvel did not obtain distribution rights. Universal held those rights, and today I can confirm the exact situation is that Universal currently retains the right of first refusal to distribute any Hulk films in the future. If for some reason Universal chose to forgo distribution, then Disney would immediately pick up the distribution rights for the Hulk movie. So Universal has no claim at all to the production rights, and their distribution rights are dependent on exercising their option, which remains in full effect at the moment.
Those thinking that the Universal distribution rights are the major obstacle to getting a Hulk sequel seem to forget that Marvel released Iron Man 2 with Paramount distributing the picture. Paramount in fact distributed Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Thor. Meanwhile, Marvel entered an agreement with Sony to share Spider-Man production rights in a plan that lets Marvel use the wall-crawler for team-ups only, while Sony still produces and distributes solo Spidey flicks. Marvel clearly isn’t going to refuse arrangements with other studios to share characters or share distribution, if and when the studio wants to make a movie.
So the claims that distribution rights alone would be enough to make Marvel refuse to release another Hulk movie don’t make much sense. If they wanted to make the movie, they’d either buy the distribution rights from Universal, reach a deal in which Universal agrees to decline distribution in exchange for some other arrangement with Marvel or Disney (for example, Disney co-financing another project with Universal, Disney allowing Universal to distribute some other film instead, Disney changing the release date of one of their films to open the calendar up for a Universal movie, and so on), or they’d just release a film and live with the distribution deal as they did with Iron Man 2 and lots of other films (as they’re doing by sharing Spider-Man).
It’s not entirely irrelevant that Universal has distribution rights to the Hulk solo movies, and of course Marvel would prefer to release all of their content under their own banner and not have to share profits. That’s just good business sense. But it’s also good business sense to not cut off your nose to spite your face, and Marvel has consistently been willing and able to make deals and release films under shared licensing or distribution if and when that fits into their plans and is the best way to make the movies they want to make.
The real primary reasons Marvel has postponed any plans for a solo Hulk movie are threefold.
First and foremost, despite the amazing success Marvel has enjoyed and the fact they clearly dominate the superhero film genre with blockbuster releases, 2008′s The Incredible Hulk stands out as the single Marvel release that we honestly have to admit performed weakly at the box office. With just $263 million in worldwide theatrical receipts, the film barely improves upon the equally disappointing box office performance of its predecessor film Hulk, which took $245 million in 2003.
The earlier film had a $137 million budget and the later production cost $150 million, so the proximity of their box office is mirrored in the closeness of their respective budgets as well. The brand didn’t grow, in other words, and both films failed to break even in theatrical dollars. The Incredible Hulk did enjoy a very healthy roughly $120+ million on worldwide home entertainment, but that is offset quite a bit by marketing costs that came in at about $80+ million.
If Marvel is going to invest $150-200 million in a superhero movie, they need to feel confident they’ll see more than perhaps $40 million in eventual profit a few years down the road. They can invest that sort of money into properties they know or strongly suspect will deliver huge returns, so expecting them to invest in a franchise that’s twice failed to even cover its own expenses at the box office isn’t very reasonable.
The Hulk character has proven immensely popular in the Marvel Avengers team-up films, but he doesn’t have to shoulder an entire film and isn’t on screen for most of the running time. Which brings us to the second primary reason Marvel hasn’t made a Hulk sequel film — the character seems to work better and be more popular as a value-added addition to other films. Saving the Hulk to turn him into a “special event” character whom audiences only get to see as an extra element in Marvel’s biggest productions raises his profile and ensures people don’t get tired of him. It also allows the movies to exploit his strengths as a character with far less concern about any potential weaknesses.
And let’s be clear, some weaknesses do exist — at face value, and as perceived by the mainstream public who buy tickets, the Hulk is primarily a big super-strong monster-hero. Which has terrific value as a supporting character in a larger story, but (again, speaking about mainstream public perceptions here) might feel harder to imagine remaining as enjoyable to watch for the entirety of a two-hour film. When solo Hulk movies tried to save the “Hulk-out” moments to avoid oversaturating the films with “big angry monster smashing things and fighting,” audiences clearly weren’t as impressed, despite the fact those were actually good films (I love The Incredible Hulk, it’s essentially a throwback to old Universal classic monster movies).
I think there’s a real impression at the studio that trying a solo movie focused on the Hulk being the Hulk most of the time in the story is a highly risky project. Making a sequel that works will require some unique angles to approach the character in a way that retains everything about his Avengers appearances that make them so beloved, while avoiding all the things about usual Hulk solo stories that audiences seem largely uninterested in.
Finally, there is the simple matter of budgeting. A movie with the Hulk would necessarily include him staying in Hulk form a large portion of the time — again, two previous solo films that had more relatively limited Hulk screen time performed poorly, and any new film has to up the ante and really offer something huge for the Hulk to face off against. With the Hulk as an entirely CGI character, it would mean a lot longer production time and higher costs for the extensive visual effects necessary to create such a large character consistently on film for a two hour movie. And again, whatever shows up to anger him and bring him to battle will have to be worthy of the Hulk we’ve come to know and love, meaning a threat level almost equivalent to an Avengers movie.
The biggest and best modern Hulk stories with potential for big-screen adaptation, according to fan sentiment and press attention, are Planet Hulk and World War Hulk. In either case, or any similar scenario, we’re talking about a large amount of visual effects work and large cast, so the budget for such a project would be close to $200 million if not more. It needs a great story with a compelling new arc for the Hulk that convinces audiences there’s more to him than they’ve seen so far, a threat level that turns this into a really big event-level movie on par with the previous event movies he’s been reserved for, and lots of marketing to build the hype and buzz around the release to ensure a big opening weekend and long legs.
That sort of expense is difficult for Marvel to swallow right now since history hasn’t been kind to movies that depended on the Hulk as the main character. A $180 million budget film would require another $150 million in heavy marketing, so $330 million is the total price tag and $660 million is the break-even point. To get the sort of returns Marvel can get by investing that money into another property, a Hulk sequel therefore needs to bring in at least $750+ million at the worldwide box office, preferably more. And until that sort of performance seems much more likely than a modest or yet-again-failed theatrical run, Marvel knows better than to go down that road.
Those are the three big reasons we haven’t had a Hulk sequel yet, not because Marvel lacks film rights or because there is just some big problem arising out of distribution arrangements. Yes, distribution rights are a detail to be worked out eventually, but not a big enough obstacle to prevent a sequel if Marvel was ready to make one.
So fans should relax and be patient. Marvel has proven to be one of the most savvy and successful studios in Hollywood. They are very aware of what audiences like and don’t like at this point, and they are very aware of their options for using the Hulk in a variety of different types of stories. For now, they appear to think the Hulk works best for the character, for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, and for audiences if he’s used as an added-value element for big event pictures rather than risking all of the good will he’s earned in the last few years by chancing yet another solo film too soon when they aren’t even ready for it in the bigger scheme anyway.
If and when Marvel has the right story to tell, and the Hulk has finally built up so much public affection that a stronger solo performance seems much more likely than another stumble, then and only then will Marvel movie forward with a sequel. It will have to fit into Marvel’s larger plans, which are bigger than any one character. There is a whole universal narrative at work in the Marvel films, and each character and franchise has a role to play. For now, a solo Hulk adventure obviously isn’t in the best interests of what Marvel has in mind. But rest assured, you’ll be seeing more of the Hulk soon enough — and eventually, that will include in another solo outing, when the time is right.
What do you think of the Hulk’s status as a special guest star in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, dear readers? And when the Hulk does inevitably return to the big screen in his own adventure, what should it be? Sound off in the comments below!
Lionsgate has such lucrative movie franchises as The Hunger Games and Divergent under its umbrella, and the studio aims to (re-)launch another successful young adult genre property on the big screen in 2017, with Power Rangers. The project is expected to begin shooting in the second half of 2015, with Dean Israelite (Project Almanac) directing a cast that may consist primarily of unknown actors in their late teens/early 20s (which would be a traditional casting approach for Saban’s Power Rangers IP).
There have been many different iterations of the Power Rangers property on television since Mighty Morphin Power Rangers debuted in 1993, but the basic premise has never changed: a team of human teenagers are given tech that imbues them with super-powers (morphing abilities), along with giant assault machines (Zords) by a wise mentor figure, so they can battle a variety of intergalactic villains and threats.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (naturally) featured what remains the most widely-known wise leader and villain duo in Power Rangers history: the noble alien warrior Zordon and the evil-doer Rita Repulsa, respectively. It would make sense for both characters to be included in the upcoming film reboot, and Umberto Gonzalez (now of Heroic Hollywood) is claiming that this will, indeed, be the case. Here is how Gonzalez’s sources describe Rita, based on her planned depiction in the 2017 Power Rangers movie:
“A huntress. A striking, yet subtly alien-looking woman. She carries a metallic staff topped with a distinctive crescent shape. Advances with a soldier’s confidence, guided by some sort of compass… Her staff is actually a device of immense power. She points it at the ground. Heads emerge, built layer upon layer like 3-D printing, made from the earth itself… The staff’s technology grants her the ability to create humanoid figures, soulless and robotic.”
Israelite has said that the Powers Rangers reboot will “mature but still playful” in tone, suggesting that screenwriters Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz have re-imagined the Rangers universe in a way that will (in theory) resonate with a broader demographic, in terms of their age – bringing to mind how the duo approached the Marvel comic book world, with their Thor and X-Men: First Class script work. The idea behind such an approach would presumably be to make the Power Rangers film reboot something that has appeal to both adult fans and a younger crowd alike (much as Marvel Studios’ film releases generally do).
The description of Rita (assuming it’s accurate) lines up with that idea; the villain’s appearance sounds less campy than in previous versions, but it’s not so “grounded” as to no longer be kid-friendly and/or accidentally become a self-parody (which is somewhere that producer Adi Shankar and director Joseph Kahn’s viral hit Power/Rangers short film internationally went). The same goes for how Gonzalez’s sources describe Zordon in Miller and Stentz’s Power Rangers script (before Rita traps him in a time warp):
“Though alien, he looks like a man in his 50s. Sinewy and strong, as if carved from some root that refused to die. A being of integrity and iron will.”
The Power Rangers reboot will apparently introduce this new version of Zordon (as the original Red Ranger) during a prologue where he’s shown battling Rita on Earth, back when there are still dinosaurs roaming the planet. That would be in keeping with the world-building approach that Miller and Stentz took on Thor, which (you might recall) also starts out with a prologue (beginning in ancient times) that explores the history behind its main villains and heroes alike. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?
In short: between official details and rumors alike, it sounds as though the new Power Rangers film is going to fall close to your average Marvel Studios movie release, in terms of temperament and how it aims to respectfully update the Power Rangers lore without alienating either newcomers or longtime fans of the property. That might not be the most innovative approach but again, it’s a smart one with a proven track record for success – and it might give Lionsgate (as well as Saban) the hit the studio wants.
Power Rangers opens in U.S. theaters on January 13th, 2017.
Kung Fu Panda first burst onto our screens back in 2008, with a successful sequel released in 2011. The public took the wannabe kung fu panda, Po, into their hearts, enjoying his bumbling antics and his many failed attempts to become a master of the martial arts. Now the first trailer for the third instalment in the franchise, Kung Fu Panda 3, has now arrived online. It might be in Chinese, but it definitely gives a good idea of what to expect from the follow-up, including a brief glimpse at the new villain.
The plotline for Kung Fu Panda 3 was teased at the end of Kung Fu Panda 2, as this new installment sees Po reunited with his long-lost father and the pair travelling to a secret panda paradise to meet new characters. However, supernatural villain Kai is slowly sweeping across the county defeating all the kung fu masters. It falls to Po to train his new-found panda friends in the martial art form, turning them into the ultimate army of kung fu pandas.
Kung Fu Panda 2‘s Jennifer Yuh returned to co-direct Kung Fu Panda 3 alongside veteran animator Alessandro Carloni. The majority of the original voice artists are back for this sequel, including Jack Black as Po, Angelina Jolie as Tigress, Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu, Jackie Chan as Monkey, Seth Rogen as Mantis, Lucy Liu as Viper, David Cross as Crane, and James Hong as Mr. Ping. Bryan Cranston joins the cast as Po’s father, Li, and Rebel Wilson also comes on board as a results-orientated panda who is used to getting her own way. Her character’s name is Mei-Mei, and Black describes her as being “super into ribbon dancing.”
The film is due in theaters next January, so we can expect a domestic trailer pretty soon. Regardless, this first glimpse does give us a good idea of what to expect from Kung Fu Panda3 – even though the humour is missing for those of us who can’t speak the language.
The animation looks to have improved yet again (something DreamWorks has really strived to make better over the course of its films), and overall the quality seems much stronger. Kai seems to be just the right side of menacing, but not so intimidating as to frighten a younger audience. He also looks to be in possession of some pretty awesome powers, which will definitely be worth seeing in action against Po and his band of ramshackle fighters.
Despite the fact that there will have been a five year gap between sequels, KungFu Panda 3 should still do well at the box office since the films and the characters within them are well liked by younger kids and families. Expect merchandise galore (as well as food and clothing deals); meaning, you won’t be able to escape Po and his anthropomorphic friends at all – as if anyone would ever want to.
Kung Fu Panda 3will be released in theaters on January 29, 2016.
DC Comics recruits Will Smith and Common for “Suicide Squad.”
Will Smith and Common are set to star in the forthcoming DC Cinematic Universe film Suicide Squad.
As the third release from DC Cinematic Universe, Suicide Squad departs from the typical style of comic book movies and focuses on a band of super villains as apposed to super heroes.
The plot of the film, which is due in theaters August 5, 2016, surrounds a group of notorious inmates who have been recruited by a government agency to take on covert missions that should ultimately lead to their deaths.
Will Smith plays the role of Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot, a highly skilled mercenary who is a well-known enemy to Batman.
Common’s role has been kept under wraps to the public, but pictures have recently surfaced via Twitter showing him on set in Toronto.
The photos reveal Common as a possible bad guy wearing a leather wardrobe, tattoos and piercings as his attire.
According to JustJared, the rapper’s ensemble is similar to that of the Green Latern villain Abel Tarrant aka The Tattooed Man, though Common’s official role has not been confirmed.
A photo of Will Smith and a photo of Common from the set are as follows:
For additional Common coverage, watch the following DX Daily:
In order to celebrate Green Lantern’s 75th anniversary, DC Comics has announced 25 variant covers that feature Green Lanterns from throughout the character’s history, including Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Alan Scott and Kai-Ro.
According to IGN, the variants will precede the release of “Green Lantern: A Celebration of 75 Years,” which is out on September 30 and collects some of the character’s most legendary storylines from reputed writers and artists.
The titles that will feature Green Lantern variants include:
“Action Comics” #44 illustrated by Neil Edwards & Jay Leisten; “Aquaman” #44 illustrated by Francis Manapul
“Batman” #44 illustrated by Tony Daniel
“Batman Beyond” #4 illustrated by Craig Rousseau
“Batman/Superman” #24 illustrated by Dave Bullock
“Black Canary” #4 illustrated by Evan Shaner
“Catwoman” #44 illustrated by Emanuella Luppacino
“Cyborg” #3 illustrated by Kenneth Roccafort
“Deathstroke” #10 illustrated by Dave Johnson
“Detective Comics” #44 illustrated by Cliff Chiang
“The Flash” #44 illustrated by Wes Craig
“Grayson” #12 illustrated by Andrew Robinson
“Green Arrow” #44 illustrated by Neal Adams
“Green Lantern” #44 illustrated by Howard Chaykin
“Harley Quinn” #20 illustrated by Dan Panosian
“Justice League” #44 illustrated by Ivan Reis & Joe Prado
“JLA” #4 illustrated by Alex Garner
“Robin: Son of Batman” #4 illustrated by Howard Porter
“Sinestro” #15 illustrated by Ryan Sook
“Starfire” #4 illustrated by Lee Garbett
“New Suicide Squad” #12 illustrated by Ryan Benjamin
“Superman” #44 illustrated by Kevin Nowlan
“Superman/Wonder Woman” #21 illustrated by Joe Quinones
“Teen Titans” #12 illustrated by Mike McKone
“Wonder Woman” #44 illustrated by Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson
Lionsgate has such lucrative movie franchises as The Hunger Games and Divergent under its umbrella, and the studio aims to (re-)launch another successful young adult genre property on the big screen in 2017, with Power Rangers. The project is expected to begin shooting in the second half of 2015, with Dean Israelite (Project Almanac) directing a cast that may consist primarily of unknown actors in their late teens/early 20s (which would be a traditional casting approach for Saban’s Power Rangers IP).
