DAVID DUNN

A whole new world is opening up for Disney, and it’s coming in the form of Mena Massoud.

A lot happened this past weekend at D23. Stan Lee, Oprah Winfrey, and Mark Hamill were awarded Disney Legends, new footage of Avengers: Infinity War and Kingdom Hearts III was revealed, and they even revealed a new Star Wars theme park opening at Disney Land.

However, of all of these developments, perhaps none was more major than the casting announcement for Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of Aladdin. After reportedly struggling to cast the title role for more than four months, Disney announced that Canadian actor Mena Massoud was cast as Aladdin, Naomi Scott was cast as Jasmine, and Will Smith was cast as Genie.

This casting news is significant for quite a few reasons. First of all, with Massoud being of Egyptian descent and Scott being of Indian descent, they both physically fit the profiles perfectly for Aladdin and Jasmine alike. Considering more than half of Hollywood films are whitewashed (See Ghost In The Shell, Prince of Persia, Argo, etc.), it’s refreshing to see Disney expanding upon diversity while at the same time staying true to the source material.

Also, you’ve probably never heard of Massoud or Scott outside of this announcement. That’s because Disney specifically aimed for lesser-known talent for their leads, and Massoud and Scott have both had limited exposure in the industry. Massoud was most known for playing a supporting role in the 2015 mystery series “Open Heart”, while Scott was most known for portraying the Pink Ranger in this year’s Power Rangers. Seeing Disney give these breakout stars a shot like this really heartens me to the future of their live-action remakes, showing that not only are they expanding on their ethnic representation, but also on their talent as well.

Still don’t know how I feel about Will Smith playing the Genie though. If he doesn’t break it down and perform a rap like “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Arabia” or something, I’m going to be extremely disappointed.

What do you guys think? Are you excited for Disney’s casting announcement, or do you want to rub the magic lamp so you can wish this development away? Comment below, let me know.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: Variety, Access Hollywood

Whoa. Now that was unexpected.

In a surprise move this week, Lucasfilm fired directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller from the Han Solo spinoff movie, citing creative differences as the primary motivator. Lord and Miller, who previously directed 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie, were reportedly approaching the film in a loose, improvisational comedic style, while Han Solo producers were wanting them to strictly follow what was on the script page.

In short, the “creative differences” were that Lord and Miller wanted to be creative, whereas Lucasfilm didn’t want them to be.

Yesterday, their replacement was announced as Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard, most known for films such as Apollo 13, The Da Vinci Code, Frost/Nixon, and A Beautiful Mind. Howard is to oversee the remaining four weeks of filming with an additional five weeks of reshoots.

“I’m beyond grateful to add my voice to the Star Wars Universe after being a fan since [1977],” Howard tweeted. “I hope to honor the great work already done and help deliver on the promise of a Han Solo film.”

Few things to note here. First of all, I have uncompromising support in Ron Howard and his abilities to direct Han Solo. From Night Shift all the way to Rush, Howard has been a mostly consistent filmmaker with expertise on directing both actors and on-set production. To me, Ron Howard directing a Star Wars movie is the stuff of dreams, and I’m very excited to see where exactly this will lead for both the franchise and Howard alike.

That being said, with how viciously things ended between Lord, Miller, and the film’s producers, I am concerned with how much influence the studio has over Han Solo and how that might affect production. Studio interference has been a major problem in Hollywood for a long time now, from Alien 3 all the way to the most recent Fantastic Four. When filmmakers have this sharp of a disagreement on their properties, that doesn’t usually spell out a good sign for the production overall.

Also, it’s especially strange that they just now decided to fire Lord and Miller when they’ve been working on the film for five months. There’s been other productions in the past where they’ve changed out actors, writers, cinematographers, even composers in the middle of filming. But switching out directors halfway through production is extremely uncommon. With Lucasfilm making that decision almost near the film’s completion tells me that they never had a grounded conversation with Lord and Miller on where exactly they intended to take Han Solo. And if the producers don’t have a clear idea of what their film is supposed to be, then usually no one does.

What do you think? Do you think the director switch is a good thing for Han Solo, or should Lucasfilm have kept on Lord and Miller? Comment below, let me know.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter, StarWars.com

Sad news this week in regards to Zack Snyder, writer-director behind the upcoming Justice League film. After experiencing a tragedy no family should ever have to go through, Snyder is taking leave from the project to spend time with his wife Deborah.

This news comes months after the suicide of Autumn, Snyder’s 20-year-old daughter. While Snyder will be away, Avengers director Joss Whedon will be stepping in to oversee reshoots and post-production. Producers are adamant, however, that Whedon is there to follow through with Snyder’s vision, not to bring in his own creative decisions.

“The directing is minimal and it has to adhere to the style and tone and the template that Zack set,” Warner Bros president Toby Emmerich said. “We’re not introducing any new characters. It’s the same characters in some new scenes. He’s handing a baton to Joss but the course has really been set by Zack.”

This is some genuinely depressing news. While Snyder’s films have been mostly divisive among DC fans (Watchmen, Man of Steel, Batman V. Superman), that shouldn’t matter when it comes to empathizing with another human being. My upmost thoughts and prayers go to the Snyder family during this difficult time.

Zack, I know you’re not reading this, but just in case you are, know from one fan to another that you did the impossible: you brought the Justice League together. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and many others will all share presence on the big screen because you made that happen.

However Justice League turns out in November, thank you for making all of the fan’s dreams come true. We wish you a speedy recovery.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: The Independent, Cinemablend

Um, okay. I wasn’t expecting Peter Parker when Sony was talking about Nathan Drake. Apparently that’s the case, though.

In a stunning new development in the Uncharted movie that has long been stuck in development hell, Sony Pictures made a surprising announcement that they had cast their movie’s Nathan Drake. The role has officially gone to British actor Tom Holland, more recently known for playing Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War.

This casting is… unusual, to say the least. For one thing, Holland is too young to portray Nathan Drake. In the video game series, Drake is a 30 year-old adventurer who is on the hunt for buried treasure. Holland, in comparison, is 20 and looks like he’s 15. Physically, he doesn’t look at all like Nathan Drake. He just doesn’t fit the part.

Granted, the Uncharted film is written as a prequel to the best-selling games rather than a traditional adaptation, but then that raises another issue with this production. Why waste time making a prequel when people clearly want to see a cinematic experience of the game? Previous actors attached to this role included Mark Wahlberg and Chris Pratt, and while neither of them look exactly like the in-game Drake, they both look more similar to him than Holland’s minuscule figure does. How can Sony guarantee that this movie will feel like an Uncharted movie and not a Spider-Man 1.5?

And just to be clear, I’m not criticizing Holland as an actor. The guy clearly has talent and has a promising career ahead of him. But I just don’t see him in this role in any way whatsoever. Ben Affleck cast as Batman made more sense than this.

The film is being produced by Charles Roven (Man of Steel, Justice League) and Avi Arad (Iron Man, The Amazing Spider-Man) and directed by Shawn Levy (Real Steel, “Stranger Things”). We’ll have to wait and see how Holland does as everyone’s favorite scavenger.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: Deadline, Screenrant

Black is back, and it’s starting to look really good on Tom Hardy.

This weekend, Sony cast their lead for Venom, an R-rated spinoff from the Spider-Man franchise. They announced that British actor Tom Hardy, most known for movies including Inception, Warrior, and The Dark Knight Rises, will be portraying Eddie Brock, a.k.a. Venom, in the upcoming superhero flick. Sony also announced that Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer was attached to direct the project.

On the casting alone, this is some very exciting news. The last on-screen portrayal of Venom came from Topher Grace in Spider-Man 3, and that was a performance that left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. Granted, it wasn’t as much Grace’s fault as it was writer-director Sam Raimi’s, but Sony now seems to be taking Venom in a bold, exciting new direction. With Hardy being a rising talent ever since portraying Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, Hardy naturally embodies the rough physicality of the character and will no doubt bring a new edge that perfectly suits the violent vigilante. It will be very exciting to see Hardy’s performance, as well as what plans Sony has in store for the new on-screen Venom.

The only thing that’s disappointing about this news is that this will take place in a separate reality from Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. I would love to see Tom Hardy’s Venom in the same universe where Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Michael Keaton’s Vulture co-exist, but I understand Sony wanting to retain a few properties for themselves. With the family-friendly direction Marvel is going, I can also understand why an edgy character like Venom wouldn’t be a part of it. I just would have liked to have seen that as a more darker take of the MCU.

That being said, how does Sony plan to incorporate Spider-Man into it? Holland’s Spider-Man can’t be involved, unless Sony inserts some awkward weird reality-warping explanation to it. With how many similarities Venom shares with the web-slinger, it seems unlikely that he won’t be a part of the film altogether, or at least mentioned.

Either way, we’ll have to wait until October 2018 to see how Sony incorporates both worlds into Venom’s menacing return to the big screen.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter, Comic Book News

Hellboy? More like hell no.

If you’re a fan of the Guillermo Del Toro action series Hellboy, then you’ve been in for a rough few months. Fans have cried for a sequel to Hellboy: The Golden Army ever since its release, and they’ve been let down at every single turn. Del Toro teased fans yet again by posting a poll on twitter, saying that it got enough responses, he would sit down with studioheads to discuss producing one last sequel. After more than 130,000 responses, Del Toro confirmed the outcome of the conversation to some disappointed fans: Hellboy 3 is officially dead and is never happening.

Well imagine fans’ surprise when they woke up in the morning and heard that a new Hellboy movie is actually in the works. However, it’s not a sequel to the pre-existing series, but instead an R-rated reboot with “Stranger Things” actor David Harbour expected to take on the titular role. “Game of Thrones” director Neil Marshall is expected to direct, while “Hellboy” creator Mike Mignola will write the screenplay alongside authors Andrew Cosby and Christopher Golden.

I don’t know how to feel about this. For one thing, it hasn’t even been 10 years since the last Hellboy movie was released. Does the series really need a reboot, now of all times? When we’re in the thick of the superhero craze and we’re busy rebooting X-Men, Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, and so many others, I would presume that a reboot would just backfire and be flooded out in the midst of all of these other superhero franchises. Releasing a new Hellboy movie now just seems like bad timing.

Also, I think studios are starting to abuse this whole “R-rated” craze on superhero movies. It worked well for Deadpool and Logan, but don’t go overdoing it now. Soon enough you’ll see Batman decapitating criminals and Hellboy blowing guts off in gunfights, and you’ll see fans walking out because studios are more focused on producing blood and gore rather than relevant character drama and storytelling. An R-rated Hellboy movie can work, but it needs to focus on the right emotional elements, not just the sensationalism of it all.

I do like that Harbour is being considered as the lead. He was great in “Stranger Things”, and he also played solid supporting roles in End of Watch, The Equalizer, and Black Mass. It’s nice to see actors move up the totem pole, and I hope this opportunity works out well for Harbour’s career.

Also, Mignola’s involvement is encouraging, but don’t get too excited about it. Frank Miller, after all, did write and direct the adaptation of his own The Spirit. Look at how that turned out for him.

What do you guys think? Are you excited for the Hellboy reboot, or do you wish that the whole idea would go to hell? Comment below, let me know.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter, IGN

Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood, where Ewan McGregor played…

…oops, my bad. I meant to say Christopher Robin.

Well technically, both will soon be the case. The Hollywood Reporter earlier broke the news that Walt Disney has cast their Christopher Robin for the live-action Winnie the Pooh film, and that actor is none other than Ewan McGregor.

For those of you who haven’t heard about this project, Christopher Robin follows an older Christoper Robin who returns to the Hundred Acre Wood to be reunited with Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, and the rest of the Hundred Acre Wood gang. The film is being directed by Finding Neverland director Marc Forster and working from a script written by Spotlight filmmaker Tom McCarthy.

This is a project that Disney has been working on since as far as 2015. Previously attaching The Color Wheel filmmaker Alex Ross Perry to write and direct the film, Disney has since then moved on to Forster and McCarthy in favor of their pitch. With production seemingly at a standstill, McGregor’s casting as Christopher Robin shows that the film is very much still in production and is steadily on its way towards theaters.

What do you guys think? Are you excited for McGregor’s casting as an adult Christopher Robin, or do you wish he’d stay away from the Hundred Acre Wood? Comment below, let me know.

Post-script: Christopher Robin is not to be confused with Goodbye Christopher Robin, a biographical picture about Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne starring Domnhall Gleeson and Alex Lawther.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter, Variety

Looks like I’m coming back into theaters soon.

News broke yesterday regarding the sequel to the M. Night Shyamalan films Unbreakable and Split, both of which were revealed to be in the same universe after a post-credits scene in Split. The title for the sequel has now been revealed, and it is officially being released as Glass.

Yes, you read that right. Glass.

As in, Mr. Glass, the easily breakable letdown of a villain in Unbreakable portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson.

This guy.

So yeah, now he has a whole movie named after him. That’s cool, I guess.

Seriously though, how soon until we have to wait to see Bruce Willis again? I’ve been dying to see David Dunn back on the big screen.

* Cough, cough. *

Glass will have Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, James McAvoy, and Anya Taylor-Joy reprising their roles from the previous installments. It is currently slated for release in January, 2019.

– David Dunn (Not Bruce Willis)

SOURCE: Screenrant, Deadline Hollywood

Just like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, Jeff Goldblum finds a way back onto the big screen.

The Hollywood Reporter reported earlier this week that Jeff Goldblum will be reprising his role of Dr. Ian Malcolm in the upcoming science-fiction sequel Jurassic World 2. Being a staple of the franchise ever since the first film released in 1993, this will be the third time Goldblum will be portraying the character in the Jurassic Park universe, after his last appearance in 1997’s The Lost World.

Jurassic Park purists will no doubt be excited to hear about Goldblum’s return. An actor brimming with charisma and wit, Goldblum’s dry humor has usually been the best part of most of the films he’s been involved with, and somehow finds the right moments to spit a snappy quip or make some sarcastic comment.

Yet, fans shouldn’t be too excited for this casting news just yet. Goldblum also returned in the long-awaited sequel Independence Day: Resurgence last year, and even he couldn’t save that movie from its stupid writing and mediocre production. As we’ve seen before, Goldblum is a useful element that can be used to lighten up serious moments in a picture, but he can’t make up an entire picture. No actor can.

Luckily, it looks as if this new film is heading in the right direction. With A Monster Calls director J.A. Bayona at the helm working off of a script from Jurassic World’s Colin Trevorrow, Jurassic World 2 has been described as a fresh return for the franchise, going back to its roots in horror and thriller. Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment is producing, and Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard are also set to return.

What do you guys think? Are you excited for Goldblum’s return to the big screen, or like the dinosaurs do you wish he’d just stay in the past? Comment below, let me know.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter, Screenrant

Kiera Knightly is not going to be very happy.

The eagerly, long-awaited casting announcement for Deadpool’s sequel has finally been announced, and surprisingly, it’s a returning veteran for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actor who will portray Cable alongside Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool will be none other than Josh Brolin himself.

This is interesting for a few reasons. First of all, Brolin is already portraying another role within the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Thanos, the omnipotent villain who loves to sit in chairs and wait until Avengers: Infinity War comes out. Yet, here he is, announced to star alongside Deadpool in his anticipated sequel. Granted, Thanos is not really a standout role for Brolin (mostly because his character is entirely CGI). Still, seeing him in two different Marvel movies might be disorienting, yet can make for some entertaining content if Deadpool’s wit has anything to say about it.

Also, this is the fourth superhero movie that Brolin has been circling from the past few years. Back in 2013, Brolin was being considered for Bruce Wayne/Batman in the DC flop Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Thank God that didn’t happen. He also previously portrayed the lead in the other DC box office bomb Jonah Hex. Now that he’s Cable, he seems fully committed to the Marvel game and will no doubt be a part of the franchise for quite a while, considering the future Avengers and X-Force movies coming out respectively.

I still don’t know how I feel about Brolin as Cable. He is definitely a better choice in this role than he would have been as Batman, but I can’t help but look at other considered actors and think they would have been more fit for the part. Stephen Lang, for instance, has demonstrated his grit in both Avatar and Don’t Breathe, and that could have contrasted very well with Reynolds’ sarcasm and patronizing. Michael Shannon was also in the running, and considering how well he portrayed Zod in DC’s Man of Steel, I know he could have brought that same edge and roughness into Cable. Brad Pitt was also being considered, and we can only dream about the potential with that casting. Can you imagine the jokes Deadpool could have came up with? I can only wonder about their first meeting: “Why do you look like Brad Pitt?”

All the same, Brolin is definitely not a bad choice, and if anything, I’m curious to see where he will take the character. We’ll have to see for ourselves when Deadpool 2 comes out next year.

– David Dunn

SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter, MovieWeb.com