While the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to dominate the superhero genre on the big screen, the comic book universe leaves a lot to be desired. As sales plummet and retailers voice concerns that the company's decisions are hurting them, it's become clear that some changes need to be made.
Well, this is certainly surprising. After hearing that Martin Scorsese's upcoming gangster movie, The Irishman, which will mark his ninth collaboration with Robert De Niro, was going to be heading to Paramount, Indiewire now reports that Netflix has swooped in to pick up it up. Sources say the studio got cold feet on the apparently "risky" project and backed out, allowing the streaming service to grab the worldwide rights to the $100 million epic.
The Hollywood Reporter is telling us that Marvel has cast their first lead for Inhumans in the form of Game of Thrones star Iwan Rheon. Best known for his role as Ramsay Bolton on HBO's hit fantasy series, the actor will take the part of Maximus in the upcoming superhero TV show, which will "explore the never-before-told epic adventure of Black Bolt and the royal family."
The fate of the X-Men Cinematic Universe is a bit up in the air at the moment. Hugh Jackman's hanging up the adamantium claws in just a few weeks as James Mangold's Logan will herald his last time playing Wolverine, and after the muted response to X-Men: Apocalypse, 20th Century Fox has remained quiet on how they plan to proceed. Not to mention that we've heard that a number of the main cast members have no interest in returning.
While Warner Bros. is gearing up to take the next step forward in their new cinematic universe with Kong: Skull Island set to stomp into theaters next month, Universal is also putting together a shared universe featuring many iconic monsters, though it'll be quite different. Rather than boasting larger than life beasts like King Kong and Godzilla, it'll feature popular characters such as the Mummy, Wolfman, Invisible Man, Dracula and more.
Hollywood is certainly not hurting for cinematic universes. Just about every studio's got one either currently underway or in the works, and some even have a few of them. It's a trend that's getting to be a bit much, but it makes sense why everyone's trying to get in on the fun. Thankfully, one of the newer efforts to emerge is also a bit more unique when compared to what we're used to seeing. Of course, we're talking about Warner Bros.' MonsterVerse, which will feature beasts like Godzilla and King Kong.
After a swashbuckling new promo for Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales landed online during the Super Bowl, it seems that Disney is ready to step up the marketing campaign for the next film in the action/adventure franchise. If we're being completely honest, this is one property that's far past its heyday, but that hasn't stopped the studio from churning out sequels and now, as we get ready to welcome the fifth entry, one's got to wonder: did anyone even ask for another outing for Jack Sparrow?
Video game adaptations continue to be something of a dark spot in Hollywood. For years now, we've seen countless directors attempt to bring their favorite digital properties to life only to fail miserably. Last year, that trend continued with both Warcraft and Asssassin's Creed, and despite the genre's horrid track record, it doesn't look like filmmakers will quit trying to nail the tricky beast that is a video game movie anytime soon.
The annual New York Toy Fair kicks off tomorrow, and with it comes a wealth of new merchandise for many of 2017's biggest and most exciting movies. Unsurprisingly, Spider-Man: Homecoming is among them, and Funko has today unveiled a number of toys for the upcoming reboot, which all go on sale a little later this year.
The first wave of reviews for Logan are now online and so far, they've been overwhelmingly positive, and while we've also heard some disappointing news about the classic yellow costume not making an appearance, it appears as if Fox and James Mangold still have a surprise in store for fans when the movie is released theatrically next month.
