Author: dpugh007

It has just been announced that Disney’s Marvel Studios will produce the next Spider-Man movie, bringing Peter Parker to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

More in a few moments. Here is the official press release:

SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT BRINGS MARVEL STUDIOS INTO THE AMAZING WORLD OF SPIDER-MAN

New Spider-Man Will Appear First in an Upcoming Marvel Film Within Marvel’s Cinematic Universe

Marvel’s Kevin Feige to Produce Next Installment of the Spider-Man Franchise with Amy Pascal

(Culver City, California, and Burbank, California February 09, 2015) – Sony Pictures Entertainment and Marvel Studios announced today that Sony is bringing Marvel into the amazing world of Spider-Man.

Under the deal, the new Spider-Man will first appear in a Marvel film from Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (MCU). Sony Pictures will thereafter release the next installment of its $4 billion Spider-Man franchise, on July 28, 2017, in a film that will be co-produced by Kevin Feige and his expert team at Marvel and Amy Pascal, who oversaw the franchise launch for the studio 13 years ago. Together, they will collaborate on a new creative direction for the web slinger. Sony Pictures will continue to finance, distribute, own and have final creative control of the Spider-Man films.

Marvel and Sony Pictures are also exploring opportunities to integrate characters from the MCU into future Spider-Man films.

The new relationship follows a decade of speculation among fans about whether Spider-Man – who has always been an integral and important part of the larger Marvel Universe in the comic books – could become part of the Marvel Universe on the big screen. Spider-Man has more than 50 years of history in Marvel’s world, and with this deal, fans will be able to experience Spider-Man taking his rightful place among other Super Heroes in the MCU.

Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company said: “Spider-Man is one of Marvel’s great characters, beloved around the world. We’re thrilled to work with Sony Pictures to bring the iconic web-slinger into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which opens up fantastic new opportunities for storytelling and franchise building.”

“We always want to collaborate with the best and most successful filmmakers to grow our franchises and develop our characters. Marvel, Kevin Feige and Amy, who helped orchestrate this deal, are the perfect team to help produce the next chapter of Spider-Man,” said Michael Lynton, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment. “This is the right decision for the franchise, for our business, for Marvel, and for the fans.”

“Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios share a love for the characters in the Spider-Man universe and have a long, successful history of working together. This new level of collaboration is the perfect way to take Peter Parker’s story into the future,” added Doug Belgrad, president, Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group.

“I am thrilled to team with my friends at Sony Pictures along with Amy Pascal to produce the next Spider-Man movie,” said Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. “Amy has been deeply involved in the realization on film of one of the world’s most beloved characters. Marvel’s involvement will hopefully deliver the creative continuity and authenticity that fans demand from the MCU. I am equally excited for the opportunity to have Spider-Man appear in the MCU, something which both we at Marvel, and fans alike, have been looking forward to for years.”

Spider-Man, embraced all over the world, is the most successful franchise in the history of Sony Pictures, with the five films having taken in more than $4 billion worldwide.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition and distribution; television production, acquisition and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com/.

ABOUT MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT
Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy-five years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing and publishing. For more information visit marvel.com. © 2015 MARVEL

The post BREAKING: Marvel Studios To Produce Next Spider-Man Movie appeared first on /Film.

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Want to see some cool new Avengers: Age of Ultron promo art? Is Sif returning to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D? Did Tom Hiddleston talk about Thor: Ragnarok recently? Where can you see a Captain America/Superman crossover? Could the success of Kingsman: The Secret Service spawn sequels or other films? What the heck is Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts? Could we finally be getting a tease of The Joker on Gotham? Read about all this and more in today’s Superhero Bits.

Marvel posted a bunch of interesting, new Hasbro Spider-Man toys.

Jaimie Alexander is reprising her role as the Asgardian Sif on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and the executive producers talk to Marvel about it.

Facebook user TonyStarkSincero posted a bunch of Marvel concept stuff int he last few days (more below) but this Ant-Man image, via Comic Book Movie, might be my favorite.

Talking at the BAFTA’s, Tom Hiddleston admitted there are some questions to answer if and when he appears in Thor: Ragnaork.

Jacob T. Swinney posted this solid video about the evolution of Batman. Thanks to Playlist.

Arrow actor Stephen Amell talked to Comic Book about possibly crossing over with a few other DC shows.

Superhero Hype (via Facebook) posted two dozen pieces of Portuguese promo art for Avengers: Age of Ultron, including what looks to be Vision wallpaper above.

Chris Evans and Henry Cavill co-presented an award at the BAFTAs marking the closest you’ll ever get to a Superman/Captain America team up.

Continue Reading Superhero Bits >>

Due to the amount of graphics and images included in Superhero Bits, we have to split this post over THREE pages. Click the link above to continue to the second page of Superhero Bits.

The post Superhero Bits: Avengers Age of Ultron, Agents of SHIELD, Kingsman, Thor Ragnarok, Gotham, Batman Unlimited appeared first on /Film.

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Michael Myers never stays dead for too long, and now he’s returning to the big screen. Dimension films has revived efforts to make a new Halloween film. The first step in the process is to hire Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, who together wrote several Saw movies (specifically the latter four films), to write the script for the new film. But what is this Halloween going to be? Reportedly, it will be a “recalibration,” which seems like a single-word replacement for “we’re not sure yet.”

THR reports that Dunstan and Melton have been hired, and quotes sources saying that this is “not a remake, not a reboot, and not a re-imagining.” That’s where the “recalibration” word comes in.

What does that mean? All we’re really taking from it is that whatever continuity was created or tweaked by Rob Zombie’s two films will be scrapped.

We don’t even know what this film will be called. At this point it seems like the Halloween 3D idea that Dimension was once kicking around is probably dead. Whether or not there will be any continuity with the original film series is open to question. The word “recalibration” suggests that could be in the cards, and Halloween wouldn’t be the first horror series to go back to the story continuity of past films. (Producers have taken that tack with recent installments for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series.)

At this point it’s probably too early to make any real guesses. Malek Akkad is again producing, with Matt Stein.

The post ‘Saw’ Sequel Writers Drafting a New ‘Halloween’ appeared first on /Film.

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We were pleasantly surprised when the last couple years saw the return of Alejandro Jodorowsky both as the subject of a film (Jodovowsky’s Dune) and as writer and director of his own new film, The Dance of Reality. Now there’s a new Jodorowsky film in the works, and it follows directly on the heels of the last, both as a project and a story. Endless Poetry will continue the film adaptation of the director’s book, which was also the basis of his last feature.

Variety reports that the film will be a Chilean-French-Japanese production, with Asai Takashi and Jodorowsky producing and distribution sales starting now at the European Film Market in Berlin.

The film, says Variety, “recounts Jodorowsky’s teenage years in Santiago, Chile, and chronicles his struggle to overcome family pressure and find his path as an artist and a poet.” It will document the ways in which Jodorowsky became an influential poet in Chile in the ’40s, alongside Enrique Linh, Nicanor Parra and Stella Diaz.

The director said,

In my memories, my years in Chile had long been associated with suffering and loneliness… but today, at my 85 years of age I have not the least doubt that my encounter with poetry justifies my emergence in that country.

The film will be financed in part via Kickstarter, with that project set to launch on February 15. Jodorowsky will be seen in a YouTube video announcing the film on the same day.

The post Alejandro Jodorowsky Writing and Directing ‘Endless Poetry’ to Follow ‘The Dance of Reality’ appeared first on /Film.

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The X-Men universe is growing on the big screen. Deadpool will be out next year. A Gambit movie is in the works, too. The biggest movies to expand that universe, however, will be X-Men Apocalypse on May 27, 2016 and The Wolverine 2 on March 3, 3017. Today, we continue to learn more about the former film as director Bryan Singer offered a cryptic tease about the movie on Instagram.

In a bigger turn of events, Patrick Stewart suggested there are talks of him reprising his role as Professor X for the sequel to James Mangold’s The Wolverine. Read more about Professor X Wolverine news below.

First up, Patrick Stewart was talking to Oregon Live (via Superhero Hype) when he said the following about The Wolverine 2:

What I’m very excited about is that we have been talking about a Wolverine movie, which would team Hugh Jackman and myself together. Wolverine and Professor Xavier. That would be a very different sort of ‘X-Men’ from the four movies that I’ve already done.

That’s…pretty huge news. We do know Hugh Jackman has been saying they’re looking at all kinds of different stories for The Wolverine 2 but had yet to truly settle on something. A story with Stewart as Xavier, side by side with Jackman Wolverine, could potentially be very cool. Could it be a continuation of the scene at the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past, where Xavier and Wolverine reconnect? That scene likely takes place after Apocalypse so it would make sense time wise. Or maybe some kind of standalone. Obviously, we don’t know.

Also of note, Stewart contradicted himself in regards to Apocalypse by saying that Ian McKellen would appear. So hang on for more on that.

Speaking of Apocalypse, Bryan Singer took to his Instagram to show a familiar image. Yes, it’s the door to Cerebro from the basement of the Xavier School. But what does he mean by “something new?” Has someone take it over?

I know. Old door. But there’ll be something new behind it. #XmenApocalypse

A photo posted by Bryan Singer (@bryanjaysinger) on Feb 9, 2015 at 9:59am PST

X-Men Apocalypse is out May 27, 2016 and The Wolverine 2 is out March 3, 3017.

The post Professor X Could Return in ‘Wolverine’ Solo Film; Plus New ‘X-Men Apocalypse’ Tease appeared first on /Film.

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The future of Constantine has been uncertain ever since NBC decided to limit the first season order to 13 episodes, and has been sluggish about calling for a second season. But if one rumor is correct, things may not be as dire as they seem. Word is that NBC might bounce Constantine over to SyFy, which, for one, would change ratings expectations for the show.

In addition, there could be a change in the nature of the series, as it wouldn’t need to conform to network standards. Indeed, rumor is that the show could take on the title Hellblazer, and perhaps be even closer to the comics on which it is based.

Cinelinx has the rumor, and at this point the story has to be considered little more than that. Even the site is super-cautious about the story.

And yeah, it’s the sort of things to make fan wishes come true. Constantine doesn’t have a huge audience, but what it does have is rather passionate. So a second life on SyFy wouldn’t be a bad thing, especially if the cast and creative team was able to carry on.

And, even better, the rumored title change would indicate an even more deliberate attempt to stick to the comic series Hellblazer that has been the primary home for John Constantine stories since the late ’80s. Constantine struggled to find its feet in the first few episodes, but has reportedly become quite a bit stronger as the first 13 episodes went on. (John Constantine’s signature smoking habit has even been seen, despite early reports that such a thing was a no-go.) A bit less network oversight wouldn’t be a bad thing for ol’ John.

All that said, however, we’re pretty suspicious here, if also hopeful. The move would be one thing, but rebranding the show as Hellblazer is possibly too much to hope for. Still, we’re seeking more active confirmation.

The post Rumor: NBC May Give ‘Constantine’ a New Life and Title on SyFy appeared first on /Film.

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