Why The Last Three Terminator Films Were ‘Forgettable,’ According To Linda Hamilton

Why The Last Three Terminator Films Were ‘Forgettable,’ According To Linda Hamilton

The Terminator franchise is still incredibly popular with fans, which is impressive considering that even many of those fans will tell you that most of the sequels aren't all that great. Linda Hamilton, who will be making her return to the franchise with the upcoming Terminator: Dark Fate, goes so far as to call the previous sequels, "forgettable," saying that the franchise lost its focus, something she feels the new movie will fix. According to Hamilton...

You start something and you’re invested in the franchise, but somehow the characters that you care about weren’t there. Too many people, too many story points. So I think we’ve done a good job of narrowing down the focus again so it will echo the first two films.

Linda Hamilton is of the opinion that the reason that the first two Terminator films worked so well is because the fans fell in love with the characters, not necessarily the broader mythology of the franchise. The sequels that we've seen tried to take the Terminator movies to different places and try different things by playing with the mechanics, but the original Sarah Conner doesn't think that's why people cared.

Of course, when talking about the characters that people care about, Linda Hamilton is clearly telling Variety that she means her own character of Sarah Conner. While the character made a return in Terminator: Genisys, it was with Emilia Clarke playing the role, so it certainly wasn't the same thing.

Hamilton is probably on to something with her assessment of the Terminator franchise. The first two films, for better or worse, were focused on very simple ideas and characters. Terminators get sent back in time to kill Sarah Conner and her son. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines does keep the story that simple, but in doing so includes a lot more characters and tries to broaden and dive into the mythology a little deeper.

Terminator: Salvation then tried to be something entirely new by taking the story into the war with the machines. Again, many more characters and more focus on the the broader story. It gets points for trying something different, but if you weren't looking for something different, then it all comes apart.

It's understandable that movie studios would want to be able to make Terminator it's own "cinematic universe," though nobody was using that term back then. The more you can build on the mythology, the more movies you can make. However, it's still usually the characters that audiences make connections with, not just interesting plot elements.

Of course, that doesn't mean that just because Linda Hamilton is in the new Terminator, it's automatically going to be great. However, if the focus of the film also works in such a way that Terminator: Dark Fate also feels like it's more closely related to the first two movies, as Hamilton believes it is, then we might be on to something.

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Dumbo Has A Bunch Of Fun Disneyland Nods

Dumbo Has A Bunch Of Fun Disneyland Nods

The following contains SPOILERS for the new live-action Dumbo.

A great deal of Disney's new Dumbo takes place inside a theme park. While the one in the movie technically predates Disney's first park by over 30 years, you can't have a Disney movie that includes a theme park and not have audiences thinking about the fact that a large part of Disney's global popularity comes from its theme park division.

This makes it really not much of a shock to discover that V.A. Vandevere's Dreamland includes more than a few references to Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Some are obvious, some are a bit obscure, some might not even have been intentional, and at least one is absolutely brazen, but they were all there nonetheless. Here are a few of Dumbo's theme park shout-outs.

Carousel Of Progress

We don't get to see too many of the attractions inside V.A. Vandevere's theme park beyond the Coliseum where Dumbo performs. However, one that we do see is called Wonders of Science. Milly Ferrier remarks upon it when she sees it upon first arriving at the park. Later we get to see inside it and realize just how much it owes to a classic Disneyland and Walt Disney World attraction, the Carousel of Progress.

The first Carousel of Progress was created for the New York World's Fair in 1964. After the fair closed, the attraction was moved to Disneyland, where it operated until 1973. Following that, it was moved to Walt Disney World, where it still exists today, though it has been updated several times. The attraction contains a series of vignettes where animatronic characters show us how technology has changed over the decades. The version in Dreamland appears to be a walk through-style attraction, rather than the rotating theater design of the Disney version, but it still includes segments where basic animatronics show us how different things will be in the future. Like the Disney versions of the past, accuracy leaves a little something to be desired.

Rocket To The Moon

At one point in the new Dumbo, Alan Arkin's character, J. Griffin Remington, references the idea that one day man will travel to the moon. While it wouldn't happen for about a half century, space travel was a frequent topic of fiction in the early twentieth century. This is best exemplified by an attraction at the Dreamland theme park called To The Moon.

While the To The Moon attraction appears to be some sort of roller coaster or possibly something akin to the Astro Orbiter, we never really get much of a look at it. It has a very similar name to Rocket to the Moon, an attraction that arrived shortly after Disneyland first opened in 1955. Rocket to the Moon was an early motion simulator experience, an ancestor to something like Star Tours today, though very simple. The attraction hung around until 1975 when it was updated to become Mission to Mars, since man had already been to the moon by then.

Dumbo's Circus Land/The Mickey Mouse Club Circus

Disneyland was conceived by Walt Disney in large part because of the problems he had with the then modern circus. He didn't think it was the best atmosphere for family entertainment. Having said that, he still loved the concept of the circus, and so the idea of putting a traditional circus inside a theme park, as we see in Dumbo, is something that Disney himself had also done.

The Mickey Mouse Club Circus was a very traditional circus, with both human and animal performers that opened shortly after Disneyland did, in the fall of 1955. The big top was put up approximately where the Matterhorn exists today. It didn't last long, but the circus theme very nearly came back with Dumbo's Circus Land, a land that would have put several of Disney's animal characters, including those from The Jungle Book, in a traditional circus atmosphere. The land never happened, but it shows how the link between theme park and circus has never really disappeared.

Actual Disneyland Merchandise

There may be no company in the world better at merchandising that Disney. Nearly every theme park attraction has you exit through a gift shop, and you can be sure with every new movie release there will be a host of toys and other cool stuff available for fans to buy. However, Dumbo actually takes this in a slightly different direction. Why create new merch for the new movie when you can just literally promote the stuff you already have in the film?

At a couple of points during Dumbo, we see shots of kids buying cute little plush dolls of Dumbo from a concession stand. Since it is a theme park, that's not exactly going to shock anybody. However, the twist here is that the stuffed animals the kids are walking away with are literally the same one that you can buy at Disney theme parks right now. Disney just stocked the shot with the toys that were already on hand.

Dreamland

The name of the theme park in the new Dumbo is pretty simple. It's called Dreamland. A perfectly reasonable, if not particularly creative, name for a theme park. At first, it might seem like it's a generic name that doesn't mean all that much. It's certainly got a similar name to Disneyland, but beyond that, it's probably just the first thing that came to mind. However, the name Dreamland is more connected to the name Disney than you might realize.

Following the opening of Disneyland in the 1955, a Japanese businessman named Kunizo Matsuo visited the park. He loved it and wanted to build a similar location in Japan, specifically in the nation's former capital of Nara. He worked directly with Walt Disney on the project, who was very interested in a foreign location and a park designed in the same hub and spoke pattern, with many of the same Disneyland attractions, including Sleeping Beauty's castle, spinning tea cups, and more, was constructed. However, a disagreement between Matsuo and Disney over licensing fees eventually caused Walt to pull support for the park. Everything was reworked to remove the Disney branding, and the park, which was going to be called Nara Disneyland, was renamed Nara Dreamland. The park was actually quite successful for a number of years, until the early 1980s when an actual Disneyland was built in Tokyo, at which point attendance died off and the park eventually closed.

Dumbo's history with theme parks goes back to the earliest days of Disneyland when the Casey Jr. Circus Train was an opening day attraction, and Dumbo the Flying Elephant came shortly thereafter. For Disneyland fans the rides may be more iconic that the movie that they're based on.

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How Much Dumbo Made On Its Opening Night

How Much Dumbo Made On Its Opening Night

Disney is about to fly high with its own brand of live-action nostalgia this year with four of its kind, including remakes for Aladdin, The Lion King and a sequel to Maleficent. Tim Burton’s take on the 1941 classic, Dumbo is starting things off, and it's kicked off its box office run with a debut of $2.6 million during Thursday night screenings starting at 6pm.

While these early numbers are on the low side compared to where Disney live-action films have previously soared on opening night, per Deadline, the circus-set flick has been tracking between $40 and $60 million for its debut weekend. Dumbo’s $2.6 million is just ahead of the live-action Cinderella’s $2.3 million evening entrance back in 2015, which went on to open at $67.5 million. Dumbo has already made double of last year’s Christopher Robin and Alice Through the Looking Glass, both of which took $1.5 million on their Thursday nights.

This debut is behind the early earnings of The Jungle Book, which made $4.2 million on preview night before a huge $103.2 million opening, and Tim Burton’s other Disney reimagining, 2010’s Alice In Wonderland, which stole away $116.1 million in its first weekend. No other live-action Disney flick has touched Beauty and the Beast’s Thursday night preview record of $16.3 million before dancing into a magical $174 million opening weekend.

Dumbo comes up against Jordan Peele’s buzzy horror film Us, which opened at No. 1 last weekend at $94.6 million and even topped Dumbo last night by making $4.5 million on Thursday alone. The two titles benefit from targeting different audiences, and the Disney flick will be the first new family film to open in two weeks.

Box Office Mojo believes Dumbo will soar over Us this weekend for the top spot, perhaps as audiences are ready to recover from the terrifying doppelganger home-invasion thriller. Us is said to take the second spot and Captain Marvel is expected to still make bank as well. Dumbo has the benefit of opening next to the Matthew McConaughey-led stoner comedy, The Beach Bum, which has suffered brutal reviews thus far and made just $200K last night in Thursday night previews.

Globally, Dumbo should do well for itself too, as it is tracking to make $140 million during its first weekend opening in foreign markets, including China. It certainly helps that the movie starring the adorable circus elephant has received positive praise from critics. CinemaBlend’s own Jessica Rawden gave the movie 3 out of 5 stars in her review and the film has a green-splat of 52% on Rotten Tomatoes, so the consensus isn’t exactly glowing.

Dumbo marks Tim Burton’s first movie since 2016’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and a continued collaboration with Danny DeVito and Michael Keaton after Batman Returns. The film now in theaters also stars Eva Green, Colin Farrell, Alan Arkin, Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins.

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This Rotten Week: Predicting Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Ma and Rocketman Reviews

This Rotten Week: Predicting Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Ma and Rocketman Reviews

Man (or kaiju), there is quite a bit to look forward to with this week’s run of movies. It’s got big ol' monsters, a suburban teen horror and a biopic about one of the greatest living entertainers. Get ready for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Ma and Rocketman.

Just remember, I'm not reviewing these movies, but rather predicting where they'll end up on the Tomatometer. Let's take a look at what This Rotten Week has to offer.

Watching the Godzilla: King of the Monsters trailer, which shows off some of the large-scale fighting sequences between the ancient monsters who’ve come to life on Earth, it’s tough to imagine there’s any planet left for survivors to live on when the credits start to roll. It sure looks like every little speck of everything is wiped out except for, of course, the key human characters who help drive the plot line. Millie Bobby Brown and Vera Farmiga's characters mostly look fine, but everything else gets annihilated.

This is the third movie in this particular Monster-verse franchise, following Godzilla (75%) and Kong: Skull Island (75%). King of the Monsters will unleash a whole host of “new” creatures on the world, like Mothra and Ghidorah, with Godzilla called back out to fight them off. These movies mix somewhat tongue-in-cheek stylings with somewhat grounded reimaginings, and this one doesn’t look any different. The trailer looks enjoyably ridiculous, and that might not be the worst thing when it comes to the critics if they feel like they're in on the perceived joke.

In Ma, a group of high schoolers seem to stumble upon a Shangri-La-Like drinking environment when they start partying in the basement of some old woman who once bought them liquor. That sounds like a pitch for a teen comedy, but the darkness comes when the woman (the titular Ma) ends up being a total psycho apparently hellbent on taking revenge on the kids of those who mistreated her back in her own high school days. If the binge-drinking doesn't kill those teens, something will.

I like how director Tate Taylor thought to himself, you know who would be perfect as a psychotic, manipulative, borderline serial killer of teenagers? Octavia Spencer! He worked with her before, of course, having directed her in both The Help (80%) and Get on Up (76%), while also helming Girl on the Train (45%). Her latest character looks downright freaky, though I’m a bit torn on how critics will receive a story about kids getting worked over this way by a batshit crazy lady. Random thrillers aren't usually kind to Hollywood's elite, as seen by Dennis Quaid's The Intruder (30%).

The musical biopic is all the rage right now. We are fresh off the Queen-ly waves made by the Freddie Mercury-inspired Bohemian Rhapsody, which earned Rami Malek a Best Actor Oscar a few months ago. Now we get a look into the early years of Taron Egerton's Elton John as he goes from a struggling and shy kid to the flamboyant, eccentric, and world-renowned musical phenom that we know him as today.

Unlike the aforementioned Bohemian Rhapsody (61%), which left critics feeling somewhat meh with its retelling of Mercury’s life, Rocketman has come out of the gate quite strong. It’s sitting at 88% through 80 reviews, with critics praising the style, tone and performances from the leads. Taron Egerton plays Elton after starring in the Kingsman (74%, 52%) movies and voicing Johnny in Sing. He also worked with director Dexter Fletcher on Eddie the Eagle, and this latest looks like a complete hit that doesn't seem to suffer some of the more negative critiques facing more sanitized biopics of late.

Recapping last week:

We went two for three with the predictions last week, and it's been a relatively impressive run in the short-term. Aladdin (Predicted: 57% Actual: 58%) was a near direct hit, missing by only a percentage point while keeping Will Smith’s *Rotten” streak alive. He hasn’t had a positively reviewed movie earning a "Fresh" Tomatometer score in seven years now, though this one at least came close.

As the score would indicate, critics were rather mixed on the final result for the live-action remake of the Disney classic. Smith had some rather large shoes to fill, considering what Robin Williams did with just the voice role in the original. It landed for some critics but not others ,and the range of complaints and compliments varied.

I had a head start with Booksmart (Predicted: 99% Actual: 97%), since a number of reviews were in already up at the time of post. The drama was sitting at 100% through the first 50 or so reviews, and dropped only a few percentage points over the course of the next week. This will now go down as one of the best-rated wide releases of the year and it likely enters the discussion for the short list of all-time great high school, one-nighter movies.

Finally, Brightburn (Predicted: 37% Actual: 59%) was a mighty miss. Though technically rotten on the Tomatometer, this comic-adjacent scored higher than I thought, with more than half the critics finding something to like about the twist on the superhero genre. Considering the film basically just went Bizarro Superman, but not so Bizarro to wow everyone, this score can probably be considered a win.

Next time around, we’ve got Dark Phoenix, Late Night and The Secret Life of Pets 2. It’s gonna be a Rotten Week!

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New DVD Releases June 2019: All The Latest Movies And TV Shows

New DVD Releases June 2019: All The Latest Movies And TV Shows

Although the summer months are geared toward plenty of outdoor activities, kids are also home from school and have plenty of free time. Which means there’s plenty of time for kids to plant themselves in front of a screen. Sure, there’s always YouTube and Netflix, but for the latest releases, look no further than this June list of titles.

This summer, we’ll see some big hits like Captain Marvel and Us finally being available in homes (the former will also be housed on Disney+). But don’t take it from me, check out the full list of the titles coming to DVD, Digital and Blu-ray below.

Early Digital releases are mentioned in the early Digital column; same day Digital releases come out when the DVD and Blu-rays do. As for DVD release, if you’re looking for May titles head here. In addition,

New DVD Releases June 4, 2019

Available currently for pre-order, this week will feature some indie hits, as well as Tyler Perry finally saying goodbye to Madea, a character that helped him to become a household name.

A Madea Family Funeral

Lost in Space: Season 1

Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Season One 

The Haunting of Sharon Tate

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

Gloria Bell

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

J.T. Leroy

The Kid

Woman at War

Delicious: Series 3

London Kills: Series 1

Batman (1989) - 4K Ultra HD

Batman Returns (1992) - 4K Ultra HD

Batman Forever (1995) - 4K Ultra HD

Batman & Robin (1997) - 4K Ultra HD

Early Digital Releases Week of June 4, 2019

Us

Wonder Park

New DVD Releases June 11, 2019

A big new Marvel release is usually something to celebrate, and this week will be no exception, as Marvel’s first titular female superheroine will be getting her own DVD release with Captain Marvel! In addition, there are quite a few fun TV releases out this week.

The Good Doctor: The Complete Second Season (June 10)

Captain Marvel (Digital out May 28)

Captive State

Orange Is The New Black: Season Six

Five Feet Apart

I Am The Night

The Blacklist: The Complete Sixth Season (June 13)

Early Digital Releases Week of June 11, 2019

High Life

The Aftermath

Hotel Mumbai

New DVD Releases June 18, 2019

Following a successful run at the box office, Jordan Peele's latest horror flick Us is making its way onto DVD and Blu-ray this week. It's one of several high profile releases coming out, although some fared better at the box office than others. Take a look.

Us

Wonder Park

The Beach Bum

Hotel Mumbai

Will & Grace (The Revival) Season Two

Patrick Melrose

Killing Eve: Season Two

Suits: The Complete Season 8

Slaughterhouse Rulez

Lords of Chaos

New DVD Releases June 25, 2019

So far, there are fewer new releases this week than I’ve seen in some time. Of these, the highest profile release is probably The Aftermath, a period drama starring Kiera Knightley. When Knightley was doing press for the movie, she revealed why she’s not longer excited about doing nude scenes.

The Aftermath

The Hummingbird Project

Maze

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How Much Men In Black International Could Make In Its Opening Weekend

How Much Men In Black International Could Make In Its Opening Weekend

It's been seven years since the last installment of the Men in Black series, and when the franchise returns in June, it will be with an almost entirely new cast. Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson will take over from Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. While we're still almost two months out, the first projections on the box office are coming out now, and MiB: International is currently tracking toward an opening weekend around $40 million.

While these numbers are early, and are certainly subject to change, BoxOfficePro expects Men in Black: international to end up somewhere between $30-$50 million at the start on the way to a $107 million domestic box office. That would put the new movie at the bottom of the Men in Black franchise from a box office perspective, Mien in Black 3 opened at close to $55 million on the way to a domestic total of almost $180 million, probably not where the new film wants to be.

On the other hand, Men in Black 3 is actually the highest grossing film in the franchise globally, because the international numbers for the film were much higher than the previous entries. In the 10 years between Men in Black 2 and Men in Black 3, Hollywood had made great inroads in international distribution, especially in China, where MiB 3 made $77 million. Today China is an even more important part of the global box office. If the new MiB does even better there, the movie could pay for itself in China alone.

Based on the fact that the new film is actually called Men in Black: International, one gets the impression that the foreign box office is really where the focus for the new movie is. The simple fact is that the film doesn't have to do particularly well in the U.S. if it gets embraced in enough other places.

Men in Black: International won't be the only franchise returning to the big screen in mid-June as the film will open on the same date as the new Shaft movie with Samuel L. Jackson. MiB is currently tracking to be the box office winner of the two, but only by a few million dollars, so anything is possible.

Both movies will have to also contend with The Secret Life of Pets 2, which opens the previous weekend. Animated family movies tend to have better staying power at the box office than other types of films, so both movies could lose the box office crown to a rabbit voiced by Kevin Hart.

It will be interesting to see how the first Men in Black movie without Will Smith does at the box office. We don't really know if he's so close to this franchise that it really needs him or not. We'll find out in June.

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Andrew Garfield Reveals Which Part Of Playing Spider-Man Felt 'Really F-ing Good’

Andrew Garfield Reveals Which Part Of Playing Spider-Man Felt 'Really F-ing Good’

Five years ago, we were gearing up for a Spider-man sequel for Andrew Garfield’s iteration. These days, we are here readily awaiting Tom Holland’s second take at the character in this summer’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. Crazy how history repeats itself, isn’t it?

(Sadly for some) Andrew Garfield’s time as the friendly webslinger came to an end when the character was negotiated into the hands of Disney’s MCU and the studio had a new direction planned for Spider-Man (...such as turning the character to dust?) Since moving on from the role, Garfield has been taking on various dramatic roles, such as in Martin Scorsese’s Silence and his Oscar-nominated role in Hacksaw Ridge. His famed Spider-Man role is still very much a part of him, though he recently admitted some satisfaction about waving goodbye to the superhero. Here’s what he said, and be forewarned there is an f-bomb...

That was the big learning experience of my creative life, and I have so many feelings about it and I'm still a huge fan of the character. But, it was nice to be able to fling it symbolically across the room for a second. That felt really fucking good, I have to admit!

During a London screening for his upcoming movie Under the Silver Lake, Spider-Man came up in the conversation, since there is apparently a reference to the character in the upcoming film. Andrew Garfield told the audience the Easter egg is coincidental before opening up about the “complicated relationship” he has with his Spider-Man tenure, expressing both gratitude and the strange satisfaction that came with leaving the role.

Andrew Garfield has discussed how his struggle with “bearing the weight” of the iconic hero and considering the actor led a franchise that made creative decisions that led to the failure of the franchise and hand off to Disney, Garfield understandably went through some frustrations while playing the role.

Take a look at Andrew Garfield talking about his former role at the screening in a video from Twitter user @schnapsideer below:

Anyone else looking forward to that book Andrew Garfield mentions he’ll write someday that he thinks “no one will read”? I think he’s got a million-dollar idea there! Tons of people would love to hear the dirty details about what it’s like to play the webslinger and what led to the underperforming Amazing Spider-Man 2 in 2014.

Despite the circumstances, Andrew Garfield has shown his support for Tom Holland taking over the role and has moved on to show off his dramatic chops in movies such as Breathe, 99 Homes and Under the Silver Lake coming April 19. Spider-Man is in his rightful place in the MCU with Iron Man, Cap and the gang and Sony has found a way to continue establishing its own Spider-Verse with Garfield, starting with the recent success of Venom and Into the Spider-Verse. Be sure to stay tuned to CinemaBlend to find out what the studio brings to the table next!

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Who Idris Elba Could Play In The Suicide Squad

Who Idris Elba Could Play In The Suicide Squad

Recent reports on The Suicide Squad have revealed that Idris Elba will not be replacing Will Smith's Deadshot, and that the actor will be playing another character within the movie. So if Elba isn't playing Deadshot, which villain will director James Gunn have him play? Here are some villains that would be a good fit for the actor, and one just may be the villain he'll portray in The Suicide Squad.

Bronze Tiger

A frequent face on the Suicide Squad, Bronze Tiger is a martial arts master and ranked among some of the best fighters in DC Comics. He's not a metahuman, which should speak to just how capable of a fighter he is. Including Bronze Tiger in the squad introduces some muscle, and some badass kung fu skills that would make for great action-packed scenes.

It's worth mentioning that Idris Elba has some professional fighting experience, which could point to Bronze Tiger. Of course, a stunt double can be used for other stuff, but Elba's fighting experience should be enough to get face shots of him dealing justice. Plus, Bronze Tiger is a frequent presence in John Ostrander's comic book run, which James Gunn recently referenced in his Instagram stories (via We Got This Covered). Of all the options, this one feels incredibly likely.

Nemesis

Though the name may suggest otherwise, Nemesis is one of the few non-criminal members of the Suicide Squad. Thomas Andrew Tresser was a vigilante turned operative who joined the team as a debt after his life was saved by Amanda Waller and Rick Flag. Nemesis is a master of disguise and all in all a capable operative with some deep roots within the team.

Adding Nemesis to the team may not be the sexiest option for The Suicide Squad, but there's some potential there in giving him some chemistry with quite a few members. Nemesis has ties to the returning Waller, but also historically has a romantic relationship with Nightshade. Should she and her bonkers skill set join the team, there's a chance for some love to develop in a way that isn't nearly as toxic as Harley and Joker's relationship.

Black Spider

A character mainstream audiences may not be familiar with, Black Spider was first introduced in the mid-70s as a former heroin addict turn vigilante. Eric Needham takes his fight to the drug trade, and becomes a killer of those who push drugs. His methods have put him at odds with heroes like Batman, who he's clashed with in the past for trying to stop him. With that said, he's more apt to fight villains than he is heroes.

Should Idris Elba play the Black Spider, we're imagining The Suicide Squad will feature an alternative costume of the character without the mask. After all, why pay for such a talented and recognizable star only to cover his face for a bulk of the movie? His hatred of criminals (despite being one) would create an interesting dynamic between him and the other roster, which may justify his place on the team more than anything else.

Manhunter

Idris Elba could be the character Manhunter, specifically the Mark Shaw version. Shaw's crime fighting abilities are a result of the Manhunter cult, which has provided him with the training and equipment capable of tracking targets across several terrains. Basically, he's the guy The Suicide Squad will turn to to find a missing person, and he'll find them sooner than later. He's kind of like the Yautja Predator, but if they were human.

Manhunter is as solid a choice as any, and his power baton allows for close quarters fighting that makes for some cool sequences. Plus, the Manhunter cult gives an added dimension to the story that could be examined in a spinoff should the character prove popular with audiences. DC never seems to miss an opportunity for a spinoff, so why not bring in a character with the potential to make one?

Sportsmaster

Sportsmaster has had quite a few interpretations of the character over the years, and has been everything from a criminal who dons sports equipment to a metahuman with "photographic reflexes." Lawrence Crock, Victor Grover, Martin Mantle Jr., there's a lot of characters with a lot of backgrounds and powers that Idris Elba could portray, or he could play some entirely new interpretation made for The Suicide Squad.

If there was one director fans would trust with changing a goofy villain up a bit, it's James Gunn. Plus, he's got the chops to make a villain like Sportsmaster look dangerous, and dare I say, cool? It's certainly a possibility if Gunn is running the show, and Idris Elba's comedic chops are there to make for a funny character. At the same time, he's naturally badass, so he may be the perfect person to play this character.

Bane

We know him, we love him, and there's no denying the world would go crazy if the character appeared in The Suicide Squad. Bane is one of Batman's fiercest adversaries, not to mention an incredibly strong and intelligent villain in the DC Universe. Bane's appearance would be such a big deal it would effectively make Harley Quinn the second most interesting Batman villain in the project. Given the amount of love Margot Robbie's character has, that's an impressive feat.

Now, there's a small army of folks that really want to see Dave Bautista play Bane in The Suicide Squad, but imagine how cool Idris Elba would look wearing the mask? Size would be a bit of an issue, as while Elba is well-built, he's not quite the hulking behemoth Bane has been shown to be. CGI can fix that, though, if he uses the venom, and the film could also get away with a grounded look with Elba's physique.

Chronos

Here's another character that could have varied interpretations, as Chronos can be anyone from a villain that's really good at timing to a literal time traveler. Hell, he can be both, which could position him as one of the most powerful villains to be a part of The Suicide Squad. That said, it would be hard to have a villain capable of time travel in custody, so maybe just the time mastery would be a part of the character?

What if Chronos' powers were limited by being in the Suicide Squad, but a future version of himself pops into the adventure and helps him get out of his contract? Something like that is why Idris Elba should play Chronos, if only to shake up the The Suicide Squad and make this film more than just villains working together to defeat other bad guys. Raise the stakes, and perhaps lay the groundwork for another true follow up film.

The Suicide Squad is expected to arrive in 2021, which is still a ways off. CinemaBlend will continue to report on updates on the movie in the meantime, and hopefully, we'll learn which character Idris Elba is playing soon.

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Guys, The John Wick 3 Dog Action Scenes Are Much Harder To Film Than You Realize

Guys, The John Wick 3 Dog Action Scenes Are Much Harder To Film Than You Realize

The following story will get into spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum**. Do yourself a favor and turn around now if you haven’t yet seen the film**.

Hard-to-kill hitman John Wick (Keanu Reeves) remains on the run at the start of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. He is declared excommunicado by the organization he used to call “home.” And there’s a bounty on his head, meaning every assassin in the greater New York City area is hunting him down. Wick needs allies… and some of his allies in the sequel are four-legged friends.

Director Chad Stahelski unleashes two ferocious dogs in several fight sequences for John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, with Halle Berry commanding her two animals to defend her character, and John from attackers. During an appearance on the ReelBlend podcast, Stahelski explained in great detail the difficulty of shooting with the dogs, and the sheer amount of prep work that goes in to training a dog to attack – and the complications that come from that. He explains:

I would say that when you see an animal in a movie, the animal doesn't know it's a movie. There's no such thing as a movie dog. It's just a dog doing his thing on a set. … There's no half speed with an animal. The animal goes, like, when you tell him, ‘Go get the Frisbee,’ he doesn't get to go, ‘Let's walk one through. Let's rehearse.’ … So when a dog attacks, it's actually trying to injure a person. So now, you have an animal that's gone to a psychological place of fight or flight and survival mode of actually trying to hurt, kill, maim, whatever it is. And another individual wrapped up in protective gear that’s trying not to be maimed or [killed].

How does a filmmaker choreograph complicated long takes involving trained dogs who still are not really able to tell the difference between a fictional film set and a realistic fight? Especially when they are trying to complete the dog attack in the middle of an unbroken tracking shot, with loud gunshots and explosions going off all around them?

According to Chad Stahelski, speaking to the ReelBlend podcast, it requires an immense level of time commitment so that everyone involved with the stunts in the scene – from the actors to the stunt choreographers to the actual camera people – come to set months in advance to train with the dogs and familiarize themselves with the animals. He said:

You have to have all that incorporated into the financials of it -- what you're going to do with the animals after [the movie], and how you train them -- because you don't want the animals to hurt their teeth, hurt their jaws. The stuntmen have to be exceptionally trained, because if they're going to do these gigantic air-out reactions, you don't want your stunt guys to injure the animals. You want them landing on the poor doggy or anything like this. So the skills have to be rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed. ….

You [also] can't just isolate, go into one room and train an animal to attack one stunt guy. Who else is on set when you're doing that? All the background players. Guess who’s even closer to the dogs than the stunt men? Cameramen. So who does a dog have to know the most? Camera guys? Most of the time, camera men are only brought on maybe a week, maybe two weeks before the entire movie starts. I have to bring my team on three months before they start just to stand there and let the dogs that used to the smell.

Chad Stahelski goes on to say that a movie like John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum might five different dogs working with 10 different stuntmen, which requires each participant to spend two hours a day with the different dogs just so they know who to attack. As he explains in the interview, even though the stunt involving the dog doesn’t look massive, the amount of time it takes to get the dog to run from Point A to Point B and tackle the right person can take months to get right.

This is one of the many fascinating stories that Chad Stahelski told about the behind-the-scenes on the making of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. You really should give the whole interview a listen, as part of this week’s ReelBlend podcast:

This past weekend, the third John Wick movie finally dethroned Avengers: Endgame as the box office champ of the weekend, though the superhero ensemble adventure has banked more than $2.6 billion at the worldwide market, and can only go up from there. What did you go see this weekend? Did it involve dogs biting crotches? If so, then now you know how complicated those sequences were to pull off.

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Why Pet Sematary Went With That Ending, According To The Filmmakers

Why Pet Sematary Went With That Ending, According To The Filmmakers

SPOILER WARNING: Major spoilers for the ending of Pet Sematary are in this post! Come back after seeing the 2019 movie, unless you have no plans to see it, in which case read on.

Fans of Stephen King and horror films were treated to Pet Sematary this weekend, which adapts the famed author's most grim and depressing novel. There's already been a lot of discussion over the changes the film made from the book, but the biggest change is definitely its ending. For book readers, it's basically an entirely different ending from the source material, and while I'm sure that fans will be debating whether or not it was for the better, the film's directors have their reasons for making the change.

Okay, big spoilers coming up right now. Last chance to turn away.

Pet Sematary follows the Creed Family, who move to Maine and discover that a cursed Indian burial in the woods behind their house can resurrect the dead. Those brought back are usually pretty murder-y. In the film, 9-year old Ellie Creed is run over by a speeding truck. In his grief, her father Louis buries her behind the pet cemetery, and she basically returns as a murderous demon.

In the books, the resurrected child is 2-year-old Gage, who kills his mother, Rachel, and is put down by Louis, who goes insane and decides to bury Rachel in the woods hoping it'll be better this time. However, in the movie, both Rachel and Louis are killed and resurrected by Ellie, and they become a demon zombie family, with little Gage appearing to be next in line.

That's a significant change, and co-director Kevin Kölsch told Collider that the ending changed organically during filmmaking and it wasn't a change they initially set out to make.

It wasn’t necessarily an idea like, ‘We have to change the ending.’ It was just sort of other things changed within the movie. We changed it from Gage to Ellie, then obviously Ellie then being this character that could now have the awareness to know what’s going on with her and to have conversations about it. It changed the scenes afterward.

There were multiple different versions of the ending that were written and a couple of them were shot. One of them was the original ending in the books, and when they showed both endings to test audiences, the new one got the best response, according to producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura.

A lot of times with endings, you kind of just let the audience tell you what they’re feeling. We got to screen both of them to people and it just seemed like audiences really responded to that one.

In fact, the filmmakers had three different ideas that were ranked by darkness and they ended up picking the darkest one. They never intended for Pet Sematary to have a happy ending, and screenwriter Jeff Buhler said it gave the film an extra punch.

It felt right to have an ending that had a little punch to it and was kind of a wink. Like, ‘We’re in a horror movie people, it’s Friday night, you’re out with your friends, have some fun.'

If you are reading this, you've hopefully already seen Pet Sematary, so share in the comments below what you thought of the ending and if it was better than the book.

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What is Disney Movie Rewards? How Does It Work?

What is Disney Movie Rewards? How Does It Work?

Whether you're buying Blu-ray discs or going to the theater, movies can be an expensive form of entertainment. It would be nice to be able to get something a little more out of it. Luckily, if you're a Disney fan (and let's be honest, who isn't a fan of something from Disney these days), there is a way to get a little something more out of your movie experience through Disney Movie Rewards.

But what is Disney Movie Rewards and how does it work? It it worthwhile to get an account? Below you'll find answers to all your Disney Movie Rewards Questions.

What is Disney Movie Rewards?

Disney Movie Rewards is essentially a loyalty program. It's not that different from the programs you might use at your local supermarket or coffee shop. While those might get you a free latte now and then after you buy several of your own, Disney Movie Rewards does the same thing for movies. Purchase Disney films on Blu-ray or buy tickets to see them in the theater and you'll earn points.

Then, you take those points and redeem them for Disney-related stuff. You can turn right around and buy more Blu-rays or movie tickets, or you can buy Disney stuff like t-shirts, Disney gift cards or even a tour of the Walt Disney Studios, though I'll tell you, you have to buy a lot of Blu-Rays to earn that one.

How Do I Get My Disney Movie Rewards?

The first thing to do is set up an account on the Disney Movie Rewards website. It doesn't cost anything, which means it doesn't require even giving up a credit card number. All you need to do is create a username with an email address and then make a password.

Once you have the account, you can start accruing points. The main way to ear Disney Movie Rewards is by buying stuff. If you purchase a Disney Blu-Ray or DVD that has a Disney Movie Rewards logo on the outside, inside the case, you'll find a piece of paper with a code on it. Simply input the number on the Disney Movie Rewards home page and you'll get your points. Points vary on discs between around 50 and 200 points, depending on what version of a disc you buy.

Getting points for buying movie tickets is a bit more involved. In that case, you'll need to make sure you keep your ticket stub and be sure it actually says the name of the Disney movie in question. Select the movie you saw on the Disney Movie Rewards site and you'll be given a unique ID number. Write that number on your ticket, then take a picture of the ticket and upload the photo to the Disney Movie rewards website. Tickets are usually good for about 75 points.

Another thing to keep in mind is that points can only be earned on tickets for movies currently in theaters, so you don't want to stock up on your tickets and try to redeem them all at once. Be sure to get your points as soon as you can so you don't miss your window.

However, there is an easier way to get your ticket purchases added to your Disney Movie Rewards account. Disney Movie Rewards allows you to link your Rewards account to Atom Tickets, Fandango VIP and the Regal Crown Club. This means that if you buy tickets to a Disney movie through one of these online sites, your points will be automatically added to your Disney Movie Rewards account.

The other purchasable item that earns you points is Disney music. Many Disney movie soundtracks, as well as the popular collectible, vinyl "picture discs," are good for 100 points or more.

How Do I Use My Disney Movie Rewards?

Once you have enough points to redeem them for something you want, simply go to the Disney Movie Rewards website, log in and select the item. If it's an item that requires physical shipping, like a movie poster or DVD, you have the choice of paying for shipping and handling separately, or using additional points to cover the cost, so you really can get something for no additional cost to you.

Do Disney Movie Reward Points Expire?

Disney Movie Reward points only expire if your Disney Movie Rewards account sees no activity for 365 consecutive days. This means as long as you add points to your account or redeem points for something once a year, your points won't go anywhere. With the frequency with which Disney releases new movies in theaters and on Blu-ray, odds are you'll be spending money on at least one a year.

One nice way to make sure that doesn't happen is to log in and take the Disney Challenge. This is a brief Disney trivia quiz that won't take you more than a minute to complete. Doing so will earn you all of five points (unless you're really good, in that case you can get bonuses), but those five points will keep your account active for another year.

Do I Need To Cancel Disney Movie Rewards?

There isn't really much need to cancel your account. You can certainly do so, but Disney Movie Rewards doesn't cost anything, so even if you decide to stop using it, you can just ignore it and let it go.

Can I Get Disney Movie Rewards Points For Digital Movies?

At this point, purchases of Disney movies through digital storefronts cannot be used to earn Disney Movie Rewards points, although based on the Disney Movie Reward FAQ, it sounds like the implementation of such a thing could happen, so keep checking back.

Is Disney Movie Rewards Worth It?

Disney Movie Rewards doesn't cost you anything beyond the money you were probably going to be spending on Disney movies anyway, but does that mean it's obviously something you should do?

Most of the rewards are some pretty simple stuff like movie posters and t-shirts, and if they end up having something you want, that's great. However, little of seems like "must have" merch. Still, is there a better cost than free?

A Blu-ray disc goes for something like 700-800 points, and if you receive 150 points for buying one, you end up getting a movie free for every five you buy, which is a pretty decent ratio so if you're building a serious Disney movie collection, it's worth incorporating Disney Movie Rewards into that plan. This goes double if you join the Disney Movie Club, as most of those movies will earn you points alongside your obligation to the club.

Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for all the latest and greatest news concerning Disney. The company's latest movie, the live action Aladdin remake, hits theaters this Friday, May 24.

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Looks Like The Fox And Disney Merger Will Cause A Ton Of Layoffs

Looks Like The Fox And Disney Merger Will Cause A Ton Of Layoffs

Even if you've never personally been part of a business merger of any kind (and I have), it's not hard to predict many of the things that will happen as a result. When two companies that used to do largely the same thing come together, you end up with one company that has a lot more employees doing the same job than it may necessarily need. That means layoffs. When two companies the size of Disney and 20th Century Fox come together, that's a lot of employees, and that means a lot of potential layoffs. Specifically, 7,500 people are expected to end up unemployed as a result of the merger.

Needless to say, 7,500 people is a lot of people who likely will be viewed as redundant after the dust settles. The Disney/Fox merger is expected to be finalized on paper as early as next week. We likely won't see a bunch of people out of work on day one. A lot of the work of combining these two massive companies together likely hasn't even started yet, waiting for the merger to become official.

Certainly, not everybody coming on board is going to lose their job. Fox, and its various subsidiary divisions, is going to remain as a separate distribution label under the Disney umbrella, similar to Marvel Studios or Lucasfilm. Those parts of the company will still need people to run them and handle various jobs inside.

While it's easy to assume that layoffs will hurt a lot of the people in smaller positions, and it certainly will, nobody is entirely immune from layoffs. The new company doesn't necessarily need any more vice presidents or other top level executives than it already has, so some layoffs will take place at every level. Though, certainly things will hurt the lower level employees more.

Most of these layoffs will likely come from the Fox side of things. Disney is the company retaining control over the new company, it's easier for Disney to simply keep all its people in place and simply add in the necessary Fox people, but there's no way to know for sure.

It shows just how big the new Walt Disney Company will be that it is adding an entirely new film division, some smaller film subsidiaries, like Fox Searchlight, as well as new cable channels, and more, and will still need to layoff something close to 7,500 people. THR says that the massive merger between AT&T and Time Warner won't result in nearly as many lost jobs. While there are some undeniably cool things that a Disney/Fox merger may create on the content side of things, it can't be overstated that this merger is changing the media landscape forever.

Wheels will begin turning next week once the merger is official and the new Walt Disney Company begins to move forward and figure out what it is going to be. Hopefully, the people who find themselves without a home in the new company won't be without a job for too long.

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Robert Rodriguez Rewrote Alita: Battle Angel For Free Before James Cameron Let Him Direct

Robert Rodriguez Rewrote Alita: Battle Angel For Free Before James Cameron Let Him Direct

Avatar and Titanic director James Cameron was talking about doing a feature film adaptation of the Battle Angel Alita manga since the early 2000s, but he never got around to it. Now, roughly two decades later, Alita: Battle Angel is finally in theaters; but James Cameron only produced the film, while Robert Rodriguez directed it. James Cameron didn’t just give up the reins to his passion project easily though, Robert Rodriguez had to work for it, as the latter explained:

Jim would rather put something in a drawer and not do it at all than do it incorrectly with the wrong director. I saw his original drawings and they took my breath away. The main character had porcelain arms and huge manga eyes, and I thought, Wow, he’s going full manga with this. And he trusted me with the version that was in his head, and he said: if you fix the script for me, you can direct. So a month later I come back and say: here you go, free of charge. And he said: all right, it’s yours.

It sounds like Robert Rodriguez basically had to prove himself to James Cameron to take on a project that was so important to the Aliens director. That test required Robert Rodriguez working on the script for Alita: Battle Angel and fixing its issues, thereby not only proving himself capable, but also proving that he had a grasp on the material. He understood how it should be adapted, and was clearly the right fit to direct.

It’s quite a vote of confidence because, as Robert Rodriguez told The Irish Times, James Cameron has no problem shelving a project he has the rights to indefinitely rather than see it done poorly. That’s an admirable trait, but with the can getting perpetually kicked further down the road thanks to the priority of his multiple Avatar sequels, it risked never happening if he didn’t pass it off to someone else.

As we’ve heard, Robert Rodriguez wanted to see James Cameron’s Alita: Battle Angel and since James Cameron wasn’t going to make it, he did and endeavored to make it feel like a James Cameron movie. Fortunately, James Cameron was still involved and gave him a great starting point.

Robert Rodriguez didn’t have to start from scratch, because James Cameron had already laid out his vision for Alita: Battle Angel in 600 pages of notes and drawings. And we’ve previously heared how Cameron introduced Rodriguez to Alita with a 15-minute presentation complete with narration, artwork and story concepts.

That all made it clear that James Cameron indeed wanted to make a manga movie that felt like the source material, retaining the weirder elements less familiar to Western audiences, like Alita’s giant eyes. So the movie was all there, Robert Rodriguez just had to fix the 186-page screenplay and it was his. He did just that and it sounds like he did it with style too, taking only a month and doing it for free.

Now Alita: Battle Angel is finally in theaters and despite mixed reviews, it has gotten a positive audience response and recently crossed $350 million at the worldwide box office. Although it still has a ways to go to become profitable and hopefully get a sequel greenlit.

Alita: Battle Angel is now playing. Check out our 2019 release schedule to keep track of all the year’s biggest releases and for all your movie news, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

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Shazam! Star Zachary Levi Doesn’t Know What’s Next For The DC Hero

Shazam! Star Zachary Levi Doesn’t Know What’s Next For The DC Hero

What the hell did you guys do to Shazam!? Despite David F. Sandberg turning in a winning origin story for the teenage DC hero, one that mixed humor and horror with the right dash of family heart, Shazam! stalled out at the box office with $137 million domestically. I think Avengers: Endgame earned that much in a single day last week.

Shazam! didn’t exactly catch fire with audiences, which explains why the movie’s star, Zachary Levi, is unsure about the fate of a possible sequel. During a fan panel at Fan Expo Dallas, Levi was asked about a next chapter for Shazam, and he told the audience (via ComicBook.com):

I see him wherever my bosses tell me to take him. That's above my pay grade, bro. Like, literally, I ... And I'm totally fine with that, too. You know, I'm still being introduced to the character that I played and to the world that he inhabits. You know, there are Geoff Johns and Walter Hamada, and all the people at DC, who are very smart and very talented. And they are putting together, I think, some very cool things and journeys for all of these characters, Shazam included, Captain Marvel included.

That sounds like a textbook answer when an actor is asked a question about a sequel that might be in doubt. Shazam! isn’t posting the types of numbers that guarantee a follow-up story. Sure, it’s going better overseas, posting a grand total of $358 million. But it’s the lowest grossing film in the DCEU to date, sitting far below the disaster that is Justice League, so that’s not a vote of confidence in a Shazam! sequel, no matter how good the reviews were.

Which is disappointing, because almost everything in the DCEU is getting a sequel at this point. Jason Momoa recently proclaimed that the story for Aquaman 2 is locked. We’re waiting patiently for Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot to deliver Wonder Woman 1984. And James Gunn is about to deliver a second Suicide Squad.

There are even some very cool places that another Shazam! movie could go. The post-credits scene teased the arrival of Mister Mind and the Monster Society of Evil. And there have been plans to bring The Rock’s villain Black Adam into the fold for some time now. But if there isn’t a sequel, none of this will happen.

Maybe DC and Warner Bros. look at Shazam! as a successful soft launch for a character who didn’t exactly have household name recognition? The reviews were solid for the movie – it sits at 90% Fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with an 87% Fresh from audiences. And Levi largely got raves for his portrayal of the titular character.

We’ll see if a second Shazam! ever gets added to DC’s release slate, but for the time being, Levi himself seems to be in the dark. To stay up to date on all of the happenings in the DCEU, bookmark CinemaBlend’s DC Portal Page for this cinematic universe, and visit it often.

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Spider-Man: Far From Home Hopes The Elementals Will Raise The Stakes

Spider-Man: Far From Home Hopes The Elementals Will Raise The Stakes

It’s no secret that the classic Spider-Man villain Mysterio will be turned on his head – er, fish bowl – when Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Far From Home opens in theaters later this year. We have been told that Mysterio will be an ally to Spidey, hired by Nick Fury to respond to a new threat. And in the latest trailer for Far From Home, it was revealed that Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal) will hail from an alternate Earth, opening up the doors to a Multiverse in the MCU.

So if Mysterio isn’t this film’s major villain, than who is? Well, when CinemaBlend visited the London set of Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Far From Home last year, we first learned about the switch Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios planned to introduce with Mysterio. And we started to hear more about The Elementals, creatures inspired by the natural elements that will spring up around the globe.

We have seen traces of these creatures in the early marketing for Spider-Man: Far From Home, and the creative team confirmed to us that these threats are based on villains Spidey has faced off in his comic books over the years. More on those in a moment. For starters, Jon Watts opened up to us about introducing the Elementals, explaining:

Because Mysterio is playing a hero in this story, we needed real antagonists that could put Peter in danger. And for me, I wanted to really raise the action stakes from the last movie. With the Vulture, it's a one-on-one fight [against] a mechanized villain. But with Spider-Man, you have the ability to do so much more. We've seen him fight much larger villains and have spectacular set pieces, and I felt like the way to do that would be to bring in -- I mean, you say B-level heroes, but I've always loved Hydro-Man and Molten Man and this ability to have a giant, Elemental kind of creature for Spider-Man to fight against. Anything that makes things more difficult for him and opens up visual opportunities for me, I'll run at that.

Spider-Man definitely does seem to be out of his element (sorry, I had to do that) in this story. First, he’s out of New York City, and needing to fight in European locations he’s never seen before. The sequel will stage battles in Venice, Prague and London, with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) encountering this universe’s version of Sandman in Mexico City.

Of course, there’s a theory running around, which we can not confirm, that these Elementals are illusions controlled by Mysterio. The character from the comics is supposed to be a master of illusions, and we could see Quentin Beck conjuring these beasts to fight so that he can win over the trust of people who have just lost some key Avengers. Is that really Mysterio’s dubious plan?

As for Spider-Man himself, Tom Holland tells us that he was just happy to have these antagonists in the sequel because he felt it gives him better opportunities to see Spidey in fight mode. The new trailers did show off Peter Parker taking down enemies in his Iron Spider suit, his Stealth Suit, and a new suit he appears to wear in London. On the action, Holland told CinemaBlend:

At the end of the day, it's always about saving people and doing the right thing. The world is at risk in this film. I feel like the Vulture was sort of low-level crime. It was sort of under the radar. Not many people know about it. But this is a worldwide event. So the stakes are much higher for him, and I think he understands that. Meaning, he has to really show up and bring his A game. But at the heart of the film, Peter Parker just wants to tell the girl he really likes that he loves her, and have a nice holiday.

Will he be able to? It’s going to be difficult, but we have learned through the years never to bet against Spider-Man.

Sony’s Spider-Man: Far From Home swings into theaters on July 2. We have plenty more content from the set coming to CinemaBlend, so stay tuned.

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Stuber Trailer Has Dave Bautista And Kumail Nanjiani On A Funny, Wild Ride

Stuber Trailer Has Dave Bautista And Kumail Nanjiani On A Funny, Wild Ride

While Dave Bautista is an actor clearly physically built for action movies, the guy has also proven that he has real comedic chops. Some of the funniest moments from the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies have Drax at the center, and while he didn't exactly spit out endless zingers in movies like Spectre and Blade Runner 2049, it was really only a matter of time before he took on a big studio comedy. Now we're finally seeing that project in the form of Michael Dowse's Stuber, and what makes things even better is that it's a buddy cop pairing that has him teamed up with the amazing Kumail Nanjiani. Check out the first full trailer for the movie below!

Based on an original screenplay by Tripper Clancy, Stuber centers on an Uber driver named Stu (get it?) who finds himself in a bizarre and dangerous situation when his car is hired by a tough-as-nails cop, Vic, on a mission. Not being the bravest individual, it's not a circumstance that Stu is really prepared for, and things only get worse and worse as the danger escalates.

Interestingly, this has been a rather crazy week for both Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani. In the case of the former, not only is Stuber his second trailer of the week following My Spy, but we also recently got the news that he has joined the cast of Zack Snyder's upcoming Army Of The Dead. As for the latter, we learned just a few days ago that he has joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as he will be starring opposite Angelina Jolie in Chloe Zhao's The Eternals; plus he was front and center in the first episode of the revamped The Twilight Zone on CBS All Access. Both of these dudes are seeing their careers heat up in a big way right now, and it's exciting that we will be getting to see them in a new comedy together.

What's surprising, though, is that Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani aren't the only big names featured in Stuber - they just happen to be the ones primarily featured in this trailer. Natalie Morales, known for her work on The Grinder and Santa Clarita Diet, briefly appears, but this is a cast that also includes the likes of Karen Gillan, Betty Gilpin, Iko Uwais, Mira Sorvino, and Jimmy Tatro. It's possible that they aren't featured in the footage because their roles might be too spoilery, but no matter what the case is, hopefully it means that there are a lot of surprises in store when the film arrives in theaters.

Stuber just had its world premiere last month at the SXSW Film Festival, and is set up to be one of this summer's big comedies. The film is currently scheduled for release on July 12th, and hopefully between now and then we'll also be treated to a red band trailer.

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