Tag: Marvel Studios

Posted on in News

Multiple Marvel Studios LLCs Confirmed For Unannounced Projects Likely To Be Revealed Soon

It looks like Marvel Studios is about to make another big announcement about new film and television projects in the very near future.

The Ronin can now confirm the following LLCs are specifically for Marvel Studios projects, some of these were previously mentioned by us, but we can now confirm they are indeed for Marvel.

  • BATTLE ANYONE PRODUCTIONS
  • ACID POP PRODUCTIONS 
  • NATURAL HISTORY PRODUCTIONS
  • SPEYSIDE PRODUCTIONS 

The identity of the projects is unknown, but you’d have to imagine that things like Captain American 4, X-Men, Blade, Jon Watt’s Fantastic Four reboot, and Deadpool 3 could be candidates. However, at least some of these could be for Disney+ shows.

UPDATE: We have some follow-up information from a source that Natural History Productions is a Disney+ project that is aiming to begin shooting in February 2022 at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.

It’s unclear what it could be but given it’s a television series we could speculate it might be something like a Ka-Zar or Savage Land (connected to the X-Men franchise) project makes sense given the obscurity of the characters (Disney+ shows seem to be introducing lesser known characters) and the cosmic genetic tinkering going on similar to things like Eternals, X-Men, and Inhumans. At one point, Marvel Studios was developing a feature film based on Ka-Zar but pumped the breaks for various reasons.

Eternals shot a scene at Oxford University Museum of Natural History, which is worth mentioning too.

Battle Anyone certainly gives us Secret Wars vibes given that Battleworld is a thing in the comics. Also, Kang The Conqueror and the Multiverse being established for Phase 4 it’s possible that The Russo Brothers will have a reason to come back and make Secret Wars sooner rather than later. Season 1 of Loki also mentioned a Multiverse War, and could be pushed forward with something like Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness, and Season 2 of Loki.

We previously revealed that Ryan Coogler’s untitled Wakanda series was moving forward because Marvel had created an official LLC for the project with Maglev Train Productions.

There is also a new LLC called Ionic Productions, but we can’t confirm if this is Marvel-related. Stay tuned for updates! Other stuff that needs further confirmation include On Your Mark Productions and Bad Egg Productions.

Posted on in Film News

‘Black Widow’ Drops 67% In Second Weekend & Theater Owners Blame Hybrid Release For Underperformance

Last week, Marvel Studios and Disney had a lot to celebrate as they ended up with a solid domestic weekend opening of $80.3 million after delayed Black Widow over a year due tot he pandemic making it’s unfathomable to release a massive Marvel last year.

Well, in it’s second weekend there is less to be happy about after Space Jame: A New Legacy toppled the MCU film from the top spot earning a decent, but not great, $32 million. Black Widow on the other hand is estimated to have earned $26.3 million, a steep 67% drop from opening weekend and with more new releases coming in July-August it would suggest that that number will only continue to dwindle.

This makes it the biggest second weekend drop in modern MCU history.

While the pandemic is still very much a thing going on in the United States, you really wouldn’t know it looking at the last couple of weekends at the box office as people are still risking their lives and others by watching these movies in person as variant cases grow and vaccination rates have stalled.

There are a lot of factors here such as mostly front-loaded opening weekend numbers have become the norm during the pandemic and added competition could mean people are less likely to give repeat in-theater business. Another big issue is releasing the film on Disney+ via Premier Access at the same time as theaters, this means people can watch endlessly at home after paying their purchase fee and because it hit a streaming service HD/HDR versions of the film have hit torrenting sites, meaning there is now an option for people to simply download a perfect without paying (morally wrong but also socially acceptable among younger demographics).

Disney was finally eager to reveal their Premier Access numbers last weekend at $60 million, hoping that would lessen the sting that it “looked like” film underperformed compared to their other recent solo films such as Black Panther and Captain Marvel, both eventually earning a billion-plus at the global box office (Black Widow isn’t likely going to make anything close to that). It even made less opening weekend than Doctor Strange’s $85 million from 2016. Sadly, those Premier Access earnings can’t be applied to real box office totals and were really only window dressing. Studios take final box office totals real seriously and it looks like their hybrid release could end deflating the film’s global cume by at least $100 million, if not more.

This doesn’t mean Black Widow is going to be a flop, by any means, but it’s not great and the studio is likely looking towards the overseas market to help push the film into the profit zone with a release in China on the horizon.

Theatrical windows have always been buffers to online piracy and might be why Disney stated they will returning to a 45-day window for Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings. I don’t think Disney is ready to go all-in on a hybrid model of Black Widow’s second weekend numbers are any indication.

The importance of a theatrical widow is something that the National Association of Theater Owners just echoed in a press release hammering Disney’s hybrid release model. Suggesting that the company attempted to maximize profits (Disney doesn’t have to share Disney+ earnings with theaters) by damaging the theatrical earning potential and referred to this weekend’s box office drop as “a stunning second weekend collapse in theatrical revenues.”

“Black Widow should have opened to anywhere from $92-$100 million. Based on preview
revenue, compared to the same titles, Black Widow could have opened to
anywhere from $97 to $130 million,” NATO added in their press release.

They also mention out that films such as F9: The Fast Saga and A Quiet Place Part II seemed to have healthy subsequent weekend earnings because they weren’t easily pirated like the HBO Max releases and now Black Widow. The long-established buffer for piracy simply vanished.

Posted on in Television News

‘Loki’ Director Kate Herron Announces She Won’t Be Involved With Season 2

This week, Marvel Studios finally confirmed their intentions to move forward with Season of Loki after the season finale ended on a Multiverse-shattering cliffhanger. However, not everyone will be returning for that second season as director Kate Herron has informed Deadline that she will not be returning and has seemingly exited the show.

“I’m not returning. I always planned to be just on for this and to be honest, season 2 wasn’t in the — that’s something that just came out and I’m so excited. I’m really happy to watch it as a fan next season, but I just think I’m so proud of what we did here and I’ve given it my all. I’m working on some other stuff yet to be announced,” Herron told Deadline in a recent interview about the end of the Loki series.

The director also said this about current plans to work with Marvel in the immediate future, “No, I’m just focused on my own stuff at the moment. I love Marvel and I’d love to work with them again, but my outing with Loki is what I’ve done with them.”

Kate Herron was a massive reason why Loki was such a fun experience and we’ll gladly follow her with whatever her future projects will be.

On a brighter side, head writer Michael Waldron is reportedly going to be still involved with Season 2 in some capacity and it’s expected the we’ll see a bulk of the cast return as well.

The Ronin caught word a while back that show would be filming something in the United Kingdom, but that didn’t end up happening and suggests that Season 2 might be moving location from Altanta to the London area. This still needs to be confirmed but it looks the United Kingdom might become a hub location for some of the Marvel/Disney+ shows as Secret Invasion is getting ready to shoot there in the very near future.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Television News

Marvel Studios Officially Confirms ‘Loki’ Season 2; Will Likely Shoot In London

Long before we even got our hands on the first footage for the Loki series, the project’s LLC (Limbo Productions I LLC) seemingly gave away the studio’s intention to pursue a second season this was supported by trade reports that head writer/series creator Michael Waldron would be involved in Season 2 alongside a Star Wars film that Kevin Feige would be producing for Lucasfilm.

Back in April, The Ronin caught word of something Loki related shooting in London. That seemingly didn’t happen and won’t be happening for some time, potentially next year. It was a possibility that Season 2 would be moving from Atlanta to London. A reason this makes sense is that a bulk of the cast including folks such as lead Tom Hiddleston and Loki’s director Kate Herron are British. After an extended production in Atlanta during the height of the pandemic, you could understand if there were requests to shift filming across the pond for Season 2.

We’re already going to see stuff like the Skrull event Disney+ series Secret Invasion primarily film in London,so, moving Loki there wouldn’t be that shocking.

While I won’t spoil any of the plot details of the Season 1 finale, the show ended without a stinger just confirmation from Marvel that Season 2 was officially a go. You can see the image above clearly stating this. The episode does leave on a cliffhanger and it’ll be interesting to see how many more seasons we’ll get beyond Season 2.

There is also an expectation that Ms. Marvel is getting a second season with production heading to the United Kingdom too.

Posted on in Television News

‘She-Hulk’ Cinematographer Revealed To Be Florian Ballhaus

She-Hulk has been shooting for months in Atlanta and it looks like a major crew member has been revealed for the upcoming Marvel Studios series airing on Disney+ sometime in 2022. Thanks to a tipster, the German lens company Leitz’s website has the show’s cinematographer listed as Florian Ballhaus. The German director of photography’s credits include The One & Only Ivan, RED, The Devil Wears Prada, and The Captain.

The 10-episode series will be directed by Kat Coiro and Anu Valia with Emmy-winner Jessica Gao (Rick & Morty) set as head writer. It’s crew consists of production designer Elena Albanese (Lovecraft Country), costume designer Ann Foley (Godzilla Vs. Kong, Altered Carbon), and stunt coordinator Monique Ganderton (Loki, Avengers: Endgame).

Tatiana Maslany’s (Black Orphan) Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk is the cousin of Avengers member Dr. Bruce Banner aka Hulk and after a blood transfusion from Bruce is granted her own Hulk powers becoming She-Hulk. The series officially will see the return of Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky aka Abomination (the new updated design recently revealed in Shang-Chi trailer) , Mark Ruffalo back as Banner aka Professor Hulk, Renee Elise Goldsberry as Amelia, and Ginger Gonzaga.

Jameela Jamil (The Good Place) was recently announced to be playing the super-strong villain Titania in She-Hulk and it’ll be interest to see if she’ll be in projects other than the series.

Set photos recently posted by actress Anais Almonte (Gotham, The Punisher) confirmed her involvement.

She-Hulk will likely debut on Disney+ sometime in the second half of 2022. Given the extensive visual effects involved and multiple motion-capture characters, we shouldn’t expect to see it arrive before the summer of next year, but we’ll certainly update if that changes.

Other live-action shows on the horizon from Marvel Studios consist of Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, Secret Invasion, Armor Wars, Ironheart, Echo, and the untitled Ryan Coogler-produced project about Wakanda.

SOURCE: LEITZ

Posted on in Film News

Kevin Feige Says Marvel Studios Moving Away From 6-9 Picture Deals; Similar To Ones Samuel L. Jackson & Scarlett Johansson Made During Phase One

In the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the studio was trying to make sure they were landing actors on the cheap and to sweeten the pot Ike Perlmutter assumed that giving actors contracts consisting of six to nine film commitments would off-set the low pay (Chris Hemsworth earned only $150K for Thor) they would get on the first round of feature films (television and streaming wasn’t even considered back then).

One of the biggest Marvel deals made was when Samuel L. Jackson signed on to play Nick Fury in at least nine films. Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige has revealed to The Hollywood Reporter during an interview to promote Black Widow that they’re moving away from those extensive deals from the Phase One era.

“That got a lot of attention way back when, with I think [Scarlett Johansson, and Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans] and Sam Jackson. It varies now. It varies, project to project, cast to cast. Really, what we want are people that come in, are excited to be in the universe, are excited at the opportunity to do more things, as opposed to being locked into contractual obligations,” the studio head told The Hollywood Reporter.

Interestingly enough, Jackson and Hemsworth are working on new projects as Johansson is expected to end her MCU run with Black Widow after reportedly earning an impressive $15 million ($5 million more than she got for leading Ghost In Shell) for the solo outing releasing on Friday.

BLACK WIDOW – In Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger. Directed by Cate Shortland and produced by Kevin Feige, the movie stars Scarlett Johansson reprising her role as Natasha Romanoff. Florence Pugh stars as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov aka Red Guardian, and Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Television News

Marvel’s ‘Ironheart’ Series Using The Working Title Of ‘Wise Guy’

A new Production Weekly update is supporting that Ironheart’s working title during production will indeed be Wise Guy. The production grid info for the Marvel Studios show was first spotted by the folks over at The Cosmic Circus earlier in the week.

Although, we should be cautious as Production Weekly has mixed up a handful of the Marvel Studios working titles lately. They recently attributed the working title of Buzzcut to The Guardians of The Galaxy Holiday Special, only for James Gunn to debunk that on Twitter.

We’re assuming at this point that Buzzcut is likely really being used for Ryan Coogler’s untitled Wakanda series (currently listed for an untitled Marvel project on Production Weekly) as a nod to the bald female warriors, the Dora Milaje. The Ronin recently confirmed the Wakanda series is using the Disney LLC, Maglev Train Productions, which is a direct nod to the high-tech railway system used in Wakanda.

Marvel Studios has yet to reveal who is even the head writer of Ironheart let alone the show’s directors, which could suggest that the show isn’t as close to starting as something like Armor Wars.

However, it was announced back in December that Dominique Throne will be playing Riri Williams, the brilliant youngster that is able to build her own armor suit and becomes a superhero. Williams is yet another character added to the Marvel Cineamtic Universe that could appear in a future Young Avengers project.

There is a good chance there could be some story/character crossover with the War machine series Armor Wars led by Don Cheadle.

Other recent working titles for Marvel projects include the following.

LOKI – ARCHITECT

BLACK WIDOW = BLUE BAYOU

ETERNALS = SACK LUNCH

SHANG-CHI & THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS = STEAMBOAT

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS = STELLAR VORTEX

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME = THE NOVEMBER PROJECT

THOR: LOVE & THUNDER = THE BIG SALAD

SHE-HULK = CLOVER

MOON KNIGHT = GOOD FAITH

THE MARVELS = GOAT RODEO

BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER = SUMMER BREAK

ANT-MAN & THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA = DUST BUNNY

SECRET INVASION = JAMBALAYA

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL.3 = HOT CHRISTMAS

SOURCE: PRODUCTION WEEKLY

Posted on in Film News

Dave Bautista Game To See Drax The Destroyer Get His Traditional Comic Book Costume In ‘Guardians of The Galaxy 3’

Marvel Studios will finally begin shooting Guardians of The Galaxy 3 in November, according to star Chris Pratt and fans are already assembling wish lists for the sci-fi superhero film.

James Gunn recently laughed-off the fan idea of giving Drax The Destroyer his traditional look (see above) from the comic books (includes a cowl, cape, and top) in the upcoming sequel, however, Dave Bautista jokingly chimed-in giving his endorsement on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1412202496097931267?

You can’t really blame Dave Bautista, considering that adding more clothes to the character would cut-down on the time he spends in the makeup chair as to play Drax in previous films he’s had half his body covered in special effects makeup. Even if they’re covering his torso, that would likely trim time in the makeup trailer.

Bautista has suggested this will be his final outing as Drax and that he hasn’t been terribly happy with how he’s become simply the comic relief, instead of being a fearsome alien strong-man. There had been early rumblings that we could see Drax’s daughter Moondragon in the sequel, who eventually became a member of the Avengers, but this has yet to be confirmed by Marvel or supported by trades.

Ultimately, it’s director James Gunn’s call and he’ll be wrapping up his HBO Max series Peacemaker soon, so he can start pivoting to focus on prep for Guardians of The Galaxy 3 ahead of it’s production start in the United Kingdom. The rest of returning cast is expected to include Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket, and Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot. 

Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 has a release date of May 5, 2023 and we have to assume the Guardians of The Galaxy Holiday Special will air on Disney+ around December 2022. However, we’ll see the Guardians next in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love & Thunder on May 6, 2022 as they shot scenes during the production in Australia earlier this year.

SOURCE: DAVE BAUTISTA

Posted on in Television News

Marvel Studios Sets Up LLC For Upcoming Wakanda Project From Ryan Coogler

The Ronin can confirm and exclusively reveal a brand new Marvel Studios LLC company as they’ve set the name as Maglev Train Productions. It’s been announced a while back that Ryan Coogler would be behind a Wakanda series for Disney+ from Marvel Studios’ team. Maglev Train Productions, is likely a direct nod to the train system in Wakanda and was the location of the big third act fight between Killmonger and T’Challa.

Just so people don’t get confused thinking this would be for Black Panther 3, the first two movies used the LLCs Kimoyo Productions (Black Panther) and Kimoyo Productions II (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever). A reference to the tech-based bracelet multiple characters from Wakanda wear.

This means the untitled Wakanda project is officially a go at Marvel Studios.

However, we’re still waiting on some concrete details about the project and how they’ll move forward with the Black Panther franchise without recasting the T’Challa role. It’s been expected that we could see a series focus on the female warriors of Wakanda, the Dora Milaje.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently filming in Atlanta under the working title Summer Break with Ryan Coogler back as director and has a release date of July 8, 2022.

Posted on in Film News

‘Blade’ Actor Stephen Dorff Hammers Modern Marvel Movies & ‘Black Widow’; “I’m Embarrassed For Scarlett”

Actor Stephen Dorff recently worked with Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali on third season of HBO’s True Detective, but it sounds like the former Blade actor wouldn’t have advised Ali to take on the Blade mantle. Dorff spoke with The Indepenent (via The Hollywood Reporter) and proceeded to hammer the modern Marvel Studios movies, specifically, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow solo film.

“I still hunt out the good shit because I don’t want to be in Black Widow. It looks like garbage to me. It looks like a bad video game. I’m embarrassed for those people. I’m embarrassed for Scarlett! I’m sure she got paid five, seven million bucks, but I’m embarrassed for her. I don’t want to be in those movies. I really don’t. I’ll find that kid director that’s gonna be the next [Stanley] Kubrick and I’ll act for him instead,” Stephen Dorff said.

Mr. Dorff had played vampire villain Decaon Frost in 1998’s Blade, the successful R-rated film led by Wesley Snipes and directed by Stephen Norrington that was released two years before Fox’s X-Men. It’s regarded as the film that proved to Marvel that they could make successful films with their popular and obscure characters.

I guess fans that wanted Stephen Dorff to play the MCU’s Wolverine might want to pump those breaks. Then again, Ethan Hawke had a similar opinion only to join the Disney+ series Moon Knight, starring opposite with Oscar Isaac.

BLACK WIDOW – In Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger. Directed by Cate Shortland and produced by Kevin Feige, the movie stars Scarlett Johansson reprising her role as Natasha Romanoff. Florence Pugh stars as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov aka Red Guardian, and Rachel Weisz as Melina Vostokoff.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT