Disney is coming off a year in which some of its biggest blockbusters entirely skipped theaters and went straight to their ever-growing Disney Plus streaming service — those titles include “Soul,” “Artemis Fowl.” “Hamilton,” “Mulan,” and this coming March’s “Raya and the Dragon.” This has begged many to ask the obvious question; Is this just the beginning of a streaming onslaught for the Mouse House? ‘
Read moreDisney+ Adds Warnings Over “Racist” and “Offensive” Content in ‘Peter Pan,' ‘Dumbo,' ‘Fantasia,' and ‘Lady and the Tramp'
Disney+ has added trigger warnings over “racist” and “offensive” content to a big chunk of its classic films, including “Peter Pan,” “Dumbo,” “Fantasia,” and “Lady and the Tramp.”
Read moreD23: The Five Biggest Revelations, From ‘Rise of Skywalker’ Footage to Pixar's New Existential Movie ‘Soul'
Disney yet again was the centre of all entertainment news over the weekend as their annual event in Anaheim dropped some huge news regarding some of their biggest upcoming Movies, whilst the company also continued to stock up their Disney+ streaming service ahead of its November 12th US release.
Read more‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix' Expected to Lose $100M
Deadline has released a report claiming that “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” is projected to lose upwards of $100M for Disney (Although, I do wonder how much of the production costs were already paid for by Fox). The report quotes sources and analysts, they predict “Dark Phoenix” will probably take in approximately $325 million worldwide at the box office, making it a major bomb if that’s the case. But a sub-$300 million intake is also not out of the question, which would render its losses at much higher than $100M. What a disaster.
Ron Howard Blames ‘Internet Trolls' For ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ Box-Office Failures
When Ron Howard took over directorial duties for "Solo: A Star Wars Story," replacing original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, he knew the task at hand was enormous. After all, the "Star Wars" brand is as important, if not more so, for Disney than their cherished Marvel brand. He was seen as the ‘savior’ as trouble was brewing between Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy and Lord/Miller during production of the film. Howard had to steer the ship back in the right direction and have fans that were turned off by Rian Johnson's Episode 8 come back onboard this more by-the-numbers movie. Suffice to say, the underwhelming box-office clearly showed that not to be the case and "Solo," a film that no doubt had major flaws on-screen, was not saved by Howard.
Read moreBox-Office: ‘Aladdin' Makes $100M in Just 4 Days; ‘Booksmart' Disappoints.
Yesterday, I mentioned that “Booksmart” director Olivia Wilde urged audiences to go see her film, noting that the film is “getting creamed by the big dogs out there.” Wilde’s plea didn’t have much effect, at least in terms of the film’s Sunday earnings.
Read moreDisney Moves ‘Avatar’ Sequels, Announces New ‘Star Wars’ Films
“Avatar,” was a major cultural shapeshifter when it was released 9 years ago. It also turned out to be the last James Cameron film to hit screens. He’s been working on those damn sequels ever since — more precisely, four of them. We did, however, wonder if any changes would be made with the, now, Disney/Fox merger coming into full fruition.
Read moreWill Disney's Upcoming Live-Action ‘Aladdin' Disappoint At the Box-Office?
Is it just me or is the ridicule being thrown at Disney’s upcoming live-action “Aladdin” worrying Disney? In terms of box-office prospects, at the very least. If anything, it seems, to me at least, that people have already looked past “Aladdin” and are now looking to “The Lion King” as the next Disney ticket they will buy.
Read moreYou Should Not Be Celebrating the $1.2 Billion “Avengers: Endgame” Made This Weekend
The mega-billion dollar conglomerate that is Disney has just taken a major step in taking over the world of movies further this past weekend, that is if they even haven’t already. “Avengers: Endgame” made $350 million domestically and $1.2 billon worldwide this past weekend.
Read moreTim Burton's ‘Dumbo' is Too Cutesy and Forgettable [Review]
Tim Burton and Screenwriter Ehren Kruger, who penned the catastrophic “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” have decided to turn “Dumbo,” an animated classic which ran for just 64-minutes, into a two-hour movie.
Read more‘Avengers: Endgame' Will Be Over Three Hours Long, Marvel's Longest Runtime
Make sure to go to bathroom before you watch “Avengers: Endgame,” especially if you have a sensitive bladder. If the 149 minutes of last year’s “Avengers: Infinity War” was the record-setter for a Marvel movie, that number will soon be broken by its follow-up which clocks in at 182 minutes. The news was confirmed by Fandango,
How Nerd Culture Destroyed American Cinema
“Captain Marvel” has so far made, since Wednesday, close to $155M domestically, not to mention $455M worldwide. This is yet another spring success for Marvel, as practically at the same time last year, “Black Panther” was nearing record-breaking domestic box office receipts.
Read moreMark Hamill on Disney's “Star Wars" Trilogy: They Are Doing A Good Job of Killing the Past
Ah yes, Mr. Mark Hamill is at it yet again. He’s currently promoting his latest project “Knightfall,” but was asked , again, about the bewilderment that was “The Last Jedi,” even 14 months since its release.
Read moreEmma Thompson Quits Animated Film “Luck” Because She Doesn't Want to Work With John Lasseter
Skydance Animation experienced some expected blowback when they hired ex-Pixar boss John Lasseter to head their animation department. The blowback stems from Lasseter being accused of sexual misconduct in the past and consequentially being fired by Pixar because of it. And so, It was shocking to see Lasseter re-hired because, truth be told, most of the industry thought he was persona non grata in after that controversy.
Read moreDisney film chief thinks Solo: A Star Wars Story reception was unfair
By all accounts, Disney and Lucasfilm’s second Anthology film “Solo: A Star Wars Story” was a box-office disappointment. There was already a troubled production where Ron Howard had to be hired to reshoot practically the whole film, after the firing of original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
The mixed reviews that Solo garnered confirmed for many the doubt that was already very much at the forefront of this film’s pre-release buzz. This all resulted in a $392 million worldwide box-office intake, a very average result in terms of “Star Wars.”
Speaking to THR, Disney’s film chief Alan Horn expressed frustration over the reception “Solo” got:
“It’s always a challenge because — and I say this with love and respect for media — the thing about these big movies is they get a lot of attention, whether positive or negative. So when they don’t work, like Solo, the media says it’s a failure. I think it was a pretty good movie. It didn’t resonate as much as we’d hoped it would, but the press writes it up in a more negative way than I would. These are very high-profile movies. If Aladdin, which I happen to think is a terrific film, doesn’t work somehow, that’s big news and much bigger news than if a movie somewhere else, like The Kid Who Would Be King [at Fox,] doesn’t work.”
Surprise, Surprise: Marvel's “Black Widow" Will Not Be Rated R
The chances of a Disney MCU movie being rated R are next-to-nada. The Mouse House’s bottom line has always been about making money first and then, buried much lower down its list of priorities, artistic merit. Sorry Fanboys, that’s just the way it is, we could have gotten better versions of the “Iron Man,” Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Captain America” movies if it were not for the constraints that come in attaining that ever-so-box-office-cushiony-PG-13 rating. So, no, contrary to what many thought would happen, I knew all along that “Black Widow” was not going to be blessed with an R.
Read moreEx-Paramount CEO: Hollywood is now irrelevant because of Netflix and Disney Monopoly.
The elite Hollywood directors that have clamoring about the demise of the “theatrical experience” need to man-up and accept the concessions being made by Netflix. Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, and Christopher Nolan have to accept that this is where cinema is headed and that Netflix has become a Godsend in terms of being a place where viable adult entertainment is now made. You know, the mid-tier budgeted movie ($ 40-50 million) that most people say Hollywood just does churn out anymore because, well, they are monetary risks. And so, Netflix to the rescue!
Read moreBefore she sells her soul to Disney, “The Rider" director Chloe Zhao has one final statement to make.
Before “The Rider” director Chloe Zhao helms the big screen adaptation of Jack Kirby’s “The Eternals” for Marvel and Disney, she will be going back to the American west for a final artful statement.
Read moreWill Smith Should Have Never Taken the Impossible Task of Playing Genie
It was a risk that Disney knew would generate pushback from its fans. After all, Robin Williams’ voice work as Genie, which felt very much like fully-fleshed physical work as well, despite the animated constrictions, should be considered the greatest voicework in the history of animation. It’s not even close. Williams was already a brilliant, live-wire comedic performer when he decided to tackle the Genie in 1992’s “Aladdin”, but there’s no film that better captured Williams’ spirit and energy than his voice-over work in that movie. It felt like improvisation, and, based on some first-hand accounts, it seems like some of it was, which is unheard of in animation.
Read moreZimbabwean Activists: Disney’s “Hakuna Matata” Trademark is An “Assault on Swahili People”
Disney is facing backlash over its trademark of the Swahili phrase “hakuna matata.” Zimbabwean activist Shelton Mpala started an online petition calling on Disney to let go of its trademark of the phrase, which translates to “no problems” or “no worries.”
Read more