Avengers Obliterate Thanos and Box Office Alike
Avengers: Endgame dominated the weekend box office – a culmination of eleven years of MCU movies and marketing. Endgame opened simultaneously all over the world, earning $350 million domestically and $1,2 billion globally. According to the Box Office Mojo, Endgame broke a number of box office records. Among them: widest opening (4,662 theaters as compared with 4,529 theaters for Despicable Me 3), the biggest domestic opening weekend ($350 million as opposed to Avengers: Infinity War‘s $257,7 million) and the biggest worldwide opening weekend ($1,2 billion, almost double from $640,5 million held by Avengers: Infinity War).
In second place with a bit over $8 million is yet another MCU superhero film – Captain Marvel. After spending two weekends at the top of the box office back in early March, Captain Marvel steadily fell down the list over the following weeks. And yet, as the release of Avengers: Endgame approached, Captain Marvel started climbing again, reaching the second place once again – after eight weeks in cinemas! In third place of the weekend box office is the horror film The Curse of La Llorona with $7,5 million. Christian melodrama Breakthrough is in fourth place with $6,3 million. Finally, in fifth place with $5,5 million is yet another superhero film – Shazam!
Willow TV Series in the Works?
Screenwriter Jonathan Kasdan (Solo: A Star Wars Story) is in talks with Disney about a possible TV series that would continue the events of the fantasy adventure film Willow.
This news comes from a recent interview director Ron Howard gave to Joshua Horowitz on MTV’s podcast Happy Sad Confused. Howard — who directed Willow back in the 1980s — added that Kasdan kept hounding both him and the producer Kathleen Kennedy about this idea throughout the shooting of Solo. According to Howard, Kasdan envisions a more intimate story following an older, more mature Willow thirty years after the events of the film. Additionally, the director of Willow praised Kasdan’s inspired take on the story.
Willow was based on a story by George Lucas and co-produced by Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger). It features Warwick Davis (Leprechaun movies series) as the titular character along with Val Kilmer (Top Gun) and Joanne Whalley (Marvel’s Daredevil). Released in May 1988, Willow wasn’t all that popular and received mixed reviews. However, it did later find its audience on video and TV.
The Suicide Squad Casting Continues Apace
Casting continues for James Gunn’s upcoming Suicide Squad sequel, not very creatively titled The Suicide Squad. Actor David Dastmalchian (Ant-Man, Blade Runner 2049) has been cast as the DC comic book villain Polka-Dot Man. Geek Tyrant reports that Portuguese actress Daniela Melchior is in talks to appear as the villain Ratcatcher, who sounds way creepier than someone called the Polka Dot Man.
The cast of The Suicide Squad seems impressive. Idris Elba (Pacific Rim) will replace Will Smith in an as-yet-unnamed character. John Cena (Bumblebee) is also in talks for a role. Meanwhile, Jai Courtney, Viola Davis, Joel Kinnaman, and Margot Robbie will all reprise their roles from the first film.
While Avengers: Endgame did set up high expectations for the third Guardians of the Galaxy movie, its filming will have to wait. So far, the movie’s entire cast will return — or at least those whose characters survived the last film. Also, Gunn has already finished working on his screenplay. However, since James Gunn is working on The Suicide Squad, the shooting of the third Guardians movie will have to wait until at least 2020.
