Fast & Furious 9 is miles out in front when it comes to naming the highest-grossing Hollywood blockbuster released since the end of 2019, with the latest outing for Dominic Torretto and his ever-expanding family having brought in a hefty $716 million from theaters.
Star Wars is rightly lauded as one of the most popular and influential properties in the history of cinema, with the fanbase more vociferous than ever as we close in on the 45th anniversary of A New Hope, with roughly fifteen film and television projects set in a galaxy far, far away currently in development.
When it comes to directing a blockbuster movie that's part of a beloved franchise, you don't have to be a fan to get the job, or excel at it for that matter. Eventually, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will go the way of Star Wars, where every filmmaker or creative who boards the latest project will have been a lifelong fan of the property, but we haven't reached that stage quite yet.
Yesterday brought roughly the hundredth different rumor that Keanu Reeves was the subject of a bidding war between Marvel and DC for his services to join the company's respective superhero franchises, which something we've gotten used to hearing for the last few years.
We've been getting some mixed signals from the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 recently, with Chris Pratt taking to social media and revealing that he was on set for his first day of shooting the hotly-anticipated superhero threequel.
The canonical status of the Marvel Television lineup has been a hot topic of debate ever since Kevin Feige folded the division into the studio, assumed the role of Chief Creative Officer and stated in no uncertain terms that the cinematic universe's official expansion into episodic storytelling would begin with Disney Plus series WandaVision.
It would be putting it lightly to suggest that Zoë Kravitz's Selina Kyle has been a hot topic of conversation ever since the new trailer for The Batman dropped at last weekend's DC FanDome.
Shawn Levy's Free Guy is one of the pandemic's most notable success stories, earning close to $338 million at the box office despite being a completely original title that wasn't rooted in a recognizable brand, property or IP, never mind the fact it was also one of the few movies that didn't have the cushion of a day-and-date streaming release.
Michael Bay has arguably only made one straightforward action movie since 2003's Bad Boys II, and even then Netflix's 6 Underground didn't prove popular enough among the boardroom to get that sequel the green light. However, there's hope that the upcoming Ambulance could mark a serious return to form.
A lavish fantasy epic hailing from an Academy Award-nominated writer that boasts former James Bond Pierce Brosnan, living legend Julie Andrews, Chinese megastar Fan Bingbing, Oscar winner William Hurt and other well-known names including Kaya Scodelario and Pablo Schrieber among the cast sounds like it's got the potential to hit big at the box office.