Month: March 2019

Superhero films are all the rage today, and Captain Marvel is just the latest example of massive commercial success in the genre. But not every superhero film does well.

Seemingly responding to Captain Marvel’s massive box office result, Torque director Joseph Kahn said on Twitter, “No superhero movie fails.” Then Josh Trank, the director of 2015’s Fantastic Four film, chimed in with a fitting response.

“Hold my beer,” he said.

It appears Trank is talking about his own film, Fantastic Four, as an example of how not every superhero movie is a guaranteed hit. After enjoying breakout success with 2012’s Chronicle, Trank was hired by Fox to make the Fantastic Four movie–and it could have gone better. The movie was panned by critics and it made just $56 million in the US and Canada. The film pulled in around $168 million globally against a reported budget of $120 million.

The movie stars Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, and Kata Mara, with a script from X-Men series writer Simon Kinberg.

In a tweet that Trank sent and quickly deleted just before Fantastic Four’s release, the director said he had a “fantastic vision” for the movie that he claimed would have received “great reviews.” However, the suggestion from the deleted tweet is that the studio wanted to go a different way.

Trank’s next movie is Fonzo, which stars Tom Hardy as the gangster Al Capone.

Winners: The Shield

Ok, Mat. Do your best to try not to talk about how boring you find Bobby Lashley and how it made a lot more sense for Elias to be in this match instead of him. I know I just told myself not to hate on Lashley, but his spear sucks. It looks like he accidentally tripped and bumped into a guy. Why am I so mean to this guy? Maybe it’s because I see potential that’s wasted? I don’t know.

So this match was a nostalgiafest. Look, I was never really into the Shield when they were around, but I very much appreciate the entirety of this match. It was one half greatest hits and one half a new chapter in the Shield saga. It felt good to see them all together again and pull off some of their signature moments.

Sure, the folks they were taking on were one dimensional in a sense, but it really worked for the story. Even though Seth Rollins, on his own, feels like he’s a main event guy, especially once Brock Lesnar is out of the picture. Every member got their spots, and it all led to a really nice ending that will get people talking for at least a few days. Who doesn’t like a PPV closing out with everyone smiling?

8.5/10

-Mat Elfring

The problem with Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, and Baron Corbin is Bobby Lashley. But we’ll get to that. I’m so glad this match kicked off with a traditional Shield entrance, especially if this is truly the last time we’ll get to see it. That’s a cool moment were fans, as Dean Ambrose possibly winds down his time in WWE.

Anyway, back to Bobby Lashley. He’s so boring and bland. And that’s crazy because there were times in TNA or Impact or GFW or whatever it was called at the time where he was truly entertaining. I’m not sure what’s keeping from from achieving that sort of character again, but it’s just not there and his entire team suffers because of it.

Thankfully, this match serves one purpose and that’s showcasing the Shield. And, for the most part, they’re all awesome. This was simply a wild brawl, which helped it stand out a main event-worthy. Because as great as it is that Roman’s back and the Shield is together, there’s no actual stakes at play here. So making it a wild and crazy crowd-pleaser of a bout was key.

And, for what it’s worth, this was essentially a Shield greatest hits album, which is all it needed to be. Everything you loved about Shield matches was thrown in, from the rabid pack of dogs tearing apart opponents with punches and kicks, to triple powerbombs. They even surrounded the ring before taking out Baron Corbin once and for all.

If this is the last ride for the Shield, they went out as awesome as ever, even if the match didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.

9/10

-Chris E. Hayner

Image credit: WWE

The HBO comedy Crashing from comedian Pete Holmes will not return for a fourth season. Holmes himself announced on Twitter that HBO has canceled the program, which is produced by Judd Apatow, after three seasons.

In the semi-autobiographical comedy, which premiered in February 2017, Holmes plays a fictional version of himself. The show chronicles Holmes’ early career as he’s trying to make it big as a comedian in New York City. It doesn’t go so well at first, both professionally and in his personal life as Holmes, a one-time aspiring pastor, finds his wife with another man. Holmes ends up homeless, and finds himself “crashing” on the couches of his comedian friends. The show features a number of famous comedians besides Holmes such as Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Ray Romano, and Sarah Silverman.

The Crashing finale aired on March 10, featuring yet another famous comedian, John Mulaney. Some shows that get canceled leave matters unresolved, but Holmes said Crashing “wraps up VERY nicely.”

While Crashing is coming to an end, Holmes and Apatow have talked about the potential to make a Crashing movie someday. However, no further details are available.

Here’s Apatow on Conan O’Brien’s show talking about the end of Crashing:

After years of development, Sony Bend has completed production of the new PS4 exclusive zombie game Days Gone. In a post on Twitter, Sony Bend confirmed that the game had reached “gold” status, meaning the team has finished development of the project.

With the game completed, it can now be sent to manufacturers for mass production. In the middle of the shot you can see a developer holding what could be the “gold” master disc.

Days Gone puts you into the boots of a biker named Deacon St. John, a bounty hunter who travels around the apocalypse on his bike. He fights against zombie-like creatures known as Freakers, among other enemies.

GameSpot’s Edmond Tran and Alessandro Fillari recently played the game, and came away with the impression that the game feels familiar–but that might not be a bad thing. For more, you can check out GameSpot’s interview with Days Gone’s creative director John Garvin and game director Jeff Ross.

Days Gone launches on April 26 exclusively for PS4.

Avengers: Endgame–a movie that wraps up 10 years worth of MCU stories–is finally finished, it seems. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo tweeted recently that the movie is “locked,” which seems to suggest that the editing process is finished.

The last day of editing was March 8, it seems, as referenced in the tweet by the sundae bar that was apparently created for the editors to enjoy. The editors may be sad to see the ice cream go, but they’re likely happy to have completed the project.

The last we heard, Endgame was expected to have a run time of around 3 hours, making it the longest MCU film to date. That comment came while the editing process was still underway, so it’s possible the film is shorter. Whatever the case, the directors say Disney/Marvel are OK with Endgame being so long.

“This is a culmination film of 22 movies, it’s a lot of storytelling to work into it,” the directors said. “Emotion is an intrinsic part of that to us. When you have to tell a really complicated story and you want strong emotional moments with the characters, it just requires a certain amount of real estate. This one, in particular, feels like three hours worth of real estate.”

For what it’s worth, 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War was already a very long movie–coming in at 2 hours and 40 minutes. Endgame hits theatres on April 26, following Captain Marvel that just opened in theatres to massive success.

The newest Marvel film, Captain Marvel, opened this past weekend and it enjoyed a massive, record-breaking debut at the box office. According to Deadline, the movie made $153 million in the United States and Canada, with a further $302 million coming in from international markets. Globally, Captain Marvel made $455 million for its first weekend.

The domestic haul of $153 million represents the third-biggest debut for a movie in March in the history of film, only behind Beauty and the Beast ($174.7 million) and Batman v. Superman ($166 million).

Additionally, Captain Marvel’s opening-weekend box office performance is better than the opening weekends for Iron Man 1 and 2, the first two Captain America movies, all the Thor films, Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2, and every Spider-Man movie ever released. Captain Marvel also opened to a bigger first-weekend box office number than Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Suicide Squad, Venom, and every X-Men movie ever.

“Marvel Studios continues to have an incredible track record that remains unbroken,” Disney executive Cathleen Taff said. ” Audiences feel they know what they are getting when they buy their movie ticket.”

On a global basis, Captain Marvel had the second-best best opening for a superhero film ever, only behind Avengers: Infinity War ($640.5 million). The $302 million that Captain Marvel made for its opening weekend is the sixth-biggest opening in the history of movies on a worldwide basis.

In North America, Captain Marvel finished its opening weekend as the seventh-largest opening weekend in the MCU. It was eclipsed by Iron Man 3, Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, and all three Avengers films.

Captain Marvel holds the record for the biggest opening-weekend in the history of film for a female-led movie on a global basis, with its $455 million haul eclipsing the Emma Watson-starring Beauty and the Beast ($357 million), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Before we can get to WWE’s biggest show of the year, Wrestlemania, we have to make a pitstop at Fastlane. Traditionally, this PPV has been a “stay the course” type of show where nothing big happens. However, this year, Fastlane is building on solid storylines that are leading into Wrestlemania.

First and foremost, everyone wants to see Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey at Mania. However, considering the story with Lynch kayfabe suspended, she’ll have to beat Charlotte Flair at Fastlane in order to reclaim that spot. Additionally, Daniel Bryan will be taking on Kevin Owens for the WWE Championship. Originally, Kofi Kingston had Owens’ spot, but there have been a few changes. More than likely, Bryan will get the win–at least that’s what we predicted–but what happens during the course of the match could have ramifications on the rumored Kofi/Bryan Wrestlemania match.

Aside from those two matches, there has been a solid build for everything else on this card. We get to see The Shield reunite, Mysterio and Andrade continue their rivalry, and there’s the first title defense for the Women’s Tag Team Championship. Typically, I’m never excited for Fastlane, but WWE really has been turning over a new leaf.

Below, you’ll find up to the minute updates for WWE Fastlane, including the winners and losers of every match, as it happens. Fastlane comes to PPV and the WWE Network on Sunday, March 10. The main card starts at 4 PM PT / 7 PM ET / 12 AM GMT (March 11) with a Kickoff Show starting one hour prior. There will be two matches on the Kickoff Show this time around.

Fastlane Match Card:

• Big E & Xavier Woods vs Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev (Kickoff Match)
• Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade vs. R-Truth vs. Samoa Joe (c) (United States Championship)
• The Revival (c) vs. Aleister Black & Ricochet vs. Chad Gable & Bobby Roode (Triple Threat Match)
• Asuka (c) vs. Mandy Rose (Smackdown Women’s Championship)
• The Shield vs. Baron Corbin, Drew McIntyre & Bobby Lashley
• Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch
• Sasha Banks & Bayley (c) vs. Nia Jax & Tamina (Women’s Tag Team Championship)
• The Usos (c) vs. The Miz & Shane McMahon (Smackdown Tag Team Championship)
• Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kevin Owens (WWE Championship)

Find out the winners and losers of the event below and stay tuned later in the evening for a review of the show.

Kickoff Show

Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade is now a 4-Way match for the United States Championship as Samoa Joe and R-Truth have been added, and it looks like that’s been added to the main card for the show.

Big E & Xavier Woods vs Shinsuke Nakamura & Rusev (Kickoff Match)

New Day wins at 13:24.

Updating…