Insidious joins Halloween Horror Nights

Along with the announcement of the Black Sabbath 13 haunted maze for Halloween Horror Nights, we have received word there will also be an Indisious themed maze which will allow guests to explore The Further. The paranormal will be based off both Insidious and Insidious: Chapter 2.

Insidious: Chapter 2 hits theaters on September 13, 2013.
Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights runs at both Hollywood and Orlando beginning on September 20th.



#UniversalHHN

D23 Recap: Upcoming releases get official logos

Disney revealed some official logos and banners for some upcoming releases as well as a couple plot summaries at D23 today.


Tomorrowland:
This is probably Disney's most secretive film as of right now. It tells the story of an inventor (played by George Clooney) and is said to be an action packed adventure. The only other thing we know is it's set to hit theaters on December 12, 2014.

Maleficent:
This rehash of the Sleeping Beauty story tells the "untold" tale of Maleficent, the evil villain who tries to kill Princess Aurora. The film stars Angelina Jolie in the title role along with Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Juno Temple, Miranda Richardson, and Imelda Staunton. It hits theaters on July 2, 2014.

"A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land’s fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal—an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading king’s successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom—and perhaps to Maleficent’s true happiness as well."

Muppets Most Wanted:
The sequel to the rather successful  2011 flick starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams will feature Ty Burrell taking the Muppets around Europe on a tour. It hits theaters on March 21, 2014.

"Disney’s “Muppets Most Wanted” takes the entire Muppets gang on a global tour, selling out grand theaters in some of Europe’s most exciting destinations, including Berlin, Madrid and London. But mayhem follows the Muppets overseas, as they find themselves unwittingly entangled in an international crime caper headed by Constantine—the World’s Number One Criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit—and his dastardly sidekick Dominic, aka Number Two, portrayed by Ricky Gervais. Tina Fey is featured as Nadya, a feisty prison guard."

Saving Mr. Banks:

"When Walt Disney’s daughters begged him to make a movie of their favorite book, P.L. Travers’ “Mary Poppins,” he made them a promise—one that he didn’t realize would take 20 years to keep. In his quest to obtain the rights, Walt comes up against a curmudgeonly, uncompromising writer who has absolutely no intention of letting her beloved magical nanny get mauled by the Hollywood machine. But, as the books stop selling and money grows short, Travers reluctantly agrees to go to Los Angeles to hear Disney’s plans for the adaptation. For those two short weeks in 1961, Walt Disney pulls out all the stops. Armed with imaginative storyboards and chirpy songs from the talented Sherman brothers, Walt launches an all-out onslaught on P.L. Travers, but the prickly author doesn’t budge. He soon begins to watch helplessly as Travers becomes increasingly immovable and the rights begin to move further away from his grasp. It is only when he reaches into his own childhood that Walt discovers the truth about the ghosts that haunt her, and together they set Mary Poppins free to ultimately make one of the most endearing films in cinematic history. "

Release date confirmed for Star Wars: Episode VII

No official title yet, but we did get something big out of D23 this weekend. We learned the rumor of a summer 2015 release date for Star Wars: Episode VII is indeed true. Previously the time frame was "planned for 2015."

Now... with this we still don't have an exact date. A summer release date gives us a window from June to September. Many are speculating that the release will be right after The Avengers: Age of Ultron which is set for May 1, 2015. The reasoning being that all six previous Star Wars films have been released in May.
Confirming Star Wars for Disney's ridiculously crowded 2015 schedule definitely puts it in a pigeonhole for timing. I highly doubt it will join the July schedule which already contains Pirates of the Caribbean 5 and Independence Day 2. If it doesn't share May with The Avengers, it is possible it could share June with the Disney/Pixar flick Inside Out. In the fall we have Ant-Man and Finding Dory, but both are hitting theaters after summer is technically over. In other words, Disney basically owns 2015.
We also have some Disney projects without official release dates that could be in 2015. These include, but are not limited to, Cinderella and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

My guess will be a late May release date to keep the tradition. Putting it in the later half of the month allows The Avengers to fizzle out a bit and open up some screens for Star Wars to come blazing in. If Disney doesn't pair anything with Inside Out in June, that allows even more time for Star Wars to fizzle before Pirates of the Caribbean comes on July 10th.

Toy Story of Terror premiere date set

The new Disney/Pixar short, Toy Story of Terror, will premiere on ABC this fall on October 16th at 8pm ET.

Returning voice talents for the short include Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Timothy Dalton, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, and Kristen Schaal. Joining the cast is Carl Weathers who will voice Combat Carl and Combat Carl Jr.

The basic synopsis for Toy Story of Terror:

“What starts out as a fun road trip for the Toy Story gang takes an unexpected turn for the worse when the trip detours to a roadside motel. After one of the toys goes missing, the others find themselves caught up in a mysterious sequence of events that must be solved before they all suffer the same fate in this Toy Story OF TERROR!”

D23 Recap: Pixar presents The Good Dinosaur, Inside Out, and Finding Dory

The big Disney convention, D23, kicked off this weekend and we had some presentations from Pixar.

First of all, we got confirmation of who will be voicing Dory's parents in Finding Dory. Those special people will be Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton. We also got a key plot detail explaining the film's purpose is following Dory on her quest to find her parents. To be exact:

"The all-new big-screen adventure dives into theaters Nov. 25, 2015, taking moviegoers back to the extraordinary underwater world from the original film. Finding Dory reunites the friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish with her loved ones, and everyone learns a few things about the true meaning of family along the way."

Also on board is Ty Burrell (Modern Family) who will voice a young beluga whale. We also got news that the original planned ending for Finding Dory has been changed due to controversy around a recent SeaWorld documentary titled Blackfish. The documentary focuses on the harsh environments on habitat-living aquatic animals. The ending of the Pixar flick apparently ended in a marine park, so now the fish will have the option to leave the park if they choose to do so.
Finding Dory is set to join the big party on November 25, 2015.

Aside from Finding Dory, we got some news on another upcoming film called The Good Dinosaur. The film introduces us to a group of dinosaurs who didn't die from the asteroid and live in harmony with humans. The voice cast includes Neil Patrick Harris, Bill Hader, Judy Greer, Lucas Neff, John Lithgow, and Frances McDormand. The Good Dinosaur opens next year on May 30, 2014.

 
In addition, we received news on another Pixar film called Inside Out. It tells the story within an 11-year old girl's mind as she is forced to move to San Francisco. It is directed by Peter Docter who also directed Up. Voices lined up for this one are Amy Poehler, Bill Hader, Mindy Kaling, Phyllis Smith, and Lewis Black. Inside Out opens on June 19, 2015, just a few months before Finding Dory.

Antiviral - Review

Syd March is a clinic worker who sells live infection samples from celebrities to obsessed fans. March also sells illegal samples to make money on the side by smuggling the infections through his own bloodstream. He learns a harsh lesson when he infects himself with an engineered killer in Antiviral.


I had seen a lot on Antiviral because I read a lot of horror news and try to keep tabs on independent film. I became extremely intrigued when I saw the first trailer a few months back and now that it is streaming on Netflix, I decided to give it a whirl. Not only does it appear that Brandon Cronenberg knows what he is doing, but that he has a lot in common with his father.

I thought Antiviral was very solid and beautifully shot. It was suspenseful, had a lot of twists, and had an interesting concept. The idea of obsessed fans paying to infect themselves with celebrity viruses is just out there but somehow it worked.
As far as acting goes, I thought everyone did a fantastic job. Caleb Landry Jones (Syd March) was very impressive and it was a real different turn from playing Banshee in X-Men: First Class and the weird brother in The Last Exorcism. And just to say, whenever I see Sarah Gadon I think it is Evan Rachel Wood, but aside from that she played her part of the dying superstar quite well.
The cinematography and plot went hand in hand and I loved both. The shots were gorgeous and the overall tone was well played. I liked how they portrayed the future as realistic in terms of technology and overall celebrity sensationalism. Granted I don't think we will ever get to the point of paying to be sick or celebrities openly admitting to diseases and selling them, but that might just be me.

I don't want to give too much away, but I would definitely recommend giving this one a try. It is a little out there and it takes a bit to get started, but it has a point and it does eventually get there. One plus is I didn't have one moment where I felt bored. I was intrigued and kept on edge through it all. Very well done.

Disney to cut Pirates of the Caribbean budget

It appears that Disney might have finally learned a lesson on their latest box office failure, The Lone Ranger. It has been a month after The Lone Ranger's release and the film has only hit $175 million at the box office. And that includes the international sales they were hoping to bank on. The film came with a hefty, and expensive, advertising campaign that didn't help the film one bit.
Now with that said, rumor has it that Disney is looking to significantly reduce the budget of the announced fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The current budget sits at $250 million and they are looking to shave off at least $50 million. They also are looking to deprive producer Jerry Bruckheimer of the final cut he enjoyed from the previous four Pirates movies.

In addition to the failure of The Lone Ranger, Disney also had a huge embarrassment with John Carter back in 2012. The film had a budget of $250 million and only raked in $73 million in the domestic box office. Disney is apparently trying to avoid yet another box office failure and doesn't want this to become a trend. Although it seems they are already ignoring the obvious loss of interest in the Pirates franchise as Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides brought in just $241 million compared to the average of over $300 million the first three made. However, the international box office always messes everything up so it gives them a false sense of security and makes them think people want more movies.

Along with cutting the budget, Disney has brought in new directors for the fifth Pirates. Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg (Kon Tiki) were hired and are hoping to give some fresh light to the franchise.

Marvel has plans through 2021

Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, made an announcement stating that Marvel has films planned from now until the year 2021. Yes, that is just shy of 10 years of plans. He also reminded everyone that the plans for 2015 that we know about now were in motion back in 2006.
The plans in question include expanding the Marvel Cinematic Universe to include more characters and story arcs. This is to prove to studios and audiences that they can be successful outside of the five Avengers characters. This will include the 2014 release of Guardians of the Galaxy and the 2015 release of Ant-Man. Further films that have dates for 2016 and 2017 announced but aren't titled yet will most likely be new characters as well, such as Doctor Strange and a rumored film for Black Panther. I would wager that animated films aren't out of the question either.

It is likely that the 2017 or a 2018 release date will be The Avengers 3, so I wouldn't rule out a third movie for either Thor or Captain America if not a standalone movie for The Hulk. However, none of that is confirmed and until we got confirmation on anything for Phase Three other than Ant-Man we can just have the fun of guessing for now.

The next film Marvel has lined up for us is Thor: The Dark World which hits theaters this November. In 2014 we will have Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy.  

First teaser for American Horror Story: Coven

I like the song a lot and the teaser is a bit unsettling. I'm still deciding whether I want to watch this season.

New trailer for Thor: The Dark World

For all the Loki buffs, enjoy this trailer. I have a feeling he won't be as big a part of this movie as the trailer suggests but you never know. It is apparently Loki's last appearance so if he goes out with a bang good for him. Apart from that I think this trailer looks great. Minus the cheesy last scene with the rock monster.

Black Sabbath joins Halloween Horror Nights

In addition for the mazes announced for Evil Dead, The Walking Dead, and The Cabin in the Woods, we now have news of a 3D maze to be based off the pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath.

Black Sabbath: 13 3D will be the only maze to incorporate 3D video along with traditional props and characters and will, obviously, feature scenes based off the band's 2013 album release, 13. Guests will be transported into a land of graveyards, battlefields, and madhouses and will encounter Lucifer and his blood soaked bride.

Black Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne had this to say:

“We were all really excited when Universal Studios Hollywood approached us about doing a 3D Halloween Horror Nights maze based on our music. I’ve seen the drawings of what it will look like when it’s finished and it looks amazing. I can’t wait to walk through it on opening night in September.”

So far it looks like this maze will only be at Universal Studios Hollywood. It joins mazes Evil Dead: Book of the Dead and The Walking Dead: No Safe Haven.

Loki will not appear in The Avengers: Age of Ultron

So Tom Hiddleston says.

Joss Whedon had already confirmed that the last Marvel movie we will see Loki in will be Thor: The Dark World but then kind of contradicted himself when discussing the potential future of Loki at Comic-Con. However, Loki himself (aka, Tom Hiddleston) has now confirmed that Loki will not be in The Avengers: Age of Ultron. 

“Loki’s not in it. Here’s the thing: I don’t think there’s anything else Loki could contribute to The Avengers, narratively. Joss gave me so many wonderful things to do in that first film that we’d only be trying to repeat ourselves, and probably less well in the second one.”

Now this doesn't necessarily rule out any potential part of a Phase Three movie, but it is still pretty unlikely. I think both guys are right in trying to move onto more villains rather than have The Avengers just face Loki's mischief over and over again. 

James Marsden not part of Days of Future Past

It seems that every other previous X-Men actor is returning for some part in X-Men: Days of Future Past, but one that is not joining the party will be James Marsden. He played Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, in the first X-Men trilogy.

Marsden made it pretty apparent that he has had discussions with director Bryan Singer but will not be a part of the "inbetweequel." If you don't recall, Cyclops bit the dust within the first half hour of Brett Ratner's (awful) X-Men: The Last Stand. It is still possible that we could see Cyclops return, but it won't be in Singer's 2014 attempt. Sorry guys.

Marsden had this to say about potential future involvement:

“We’ll see. I always liked Cyclops, but they have a lot of characters that they have to parcel out, spend time with each one, make sure everyone feels like they’ve been given their due, introduce them appropriately, but you could do a spinoff of every one of those characters and give them so much depth to the story line.”

[Rumor] An older Batman sought after by Warner Bros.

We learned at San Diego Comic-Con a couple weeks ago that there will indeed be a Batman vs. Superman movie, but ever since then the speculation has been on for exactly who will play Batman. Christian Bale is out of the picture so where do we go from here?
So far what we know for sure is Zack Snyder will be directing and is currently working on the script with David S. Goyer and this will technically be the sequel to Man of Steel. However, rumors are flying that the studio is seeking an older actor to portray Batman to give him a more experienced look.

People are taking the fact that an excerpt from The Dark Knight Returns was read prior to the Superman/Batman logo reveal at Comic-Con as a sign that this will indeed happen and that Batman will return as a beat up veteran. Some are saying this is a smart move and that this would avoid yet another Batman origins story for a new, young Batman. However, allowing us to bypass an origins would mean it would have to rely on Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy for background and he has said that he wants the trilogy to be a standalone series. But Nolan is involved with Man of Steel, so it's not like he doesn't know what is going on.

Now if this is true, this limits the casting of Batman to a man in his late-30's to mid-40's. There is a lot of that in Hollywood, but would it really yield someone good? Only time will tell. And it needs to be a short amount of time so they can make that 2015 release date.

My ideas for some good middle-aged potentials for Bruce Wayne:

Jon Hamm
Charlie Hunnam
Idris Elba (Yeah, a black Batman)
Bradley Cooper


When I think of "who should play Batman" I look at two key factors; who can handle the physical part along with playing a believable, suave billionaire. Out of the above choices I think the frontrunners would easily be Idris Elba and Jon Hamm. I hope this rumor is true so it would disqualify actors like Ryan Gosling and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Ellen DeGeneres returns to host the Oscars

After the seeming failure of Seth MacFarlane's show this year, the Oscars have tapped yet another previous host to return for the 86th Academy Awards on March 2, 2014. That would be Ellen DeGeneres.

She first hosted back in 2007 and was tapped after MacFarlane apparently turned down an offer to return after citing scheduling conflicts. Many are speculating the choice to go with DeGeneres is due to her ability to keep the mood light and fun without rocking the boat toward too raunchy. Not to mention the fact that she earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for her hosting skills back in 2007. She has also earned a total of 45 Daytime Emmy nominations for her talk show Ellen which has aired for 10 seasons. Show producers Craig Zadan and Neal Meron will return for the show as well.
Another project DeGeneres has coming up is voice work to return as Dory for the Disney/Pixar sequel Finding Dory which hits theaters in 2015.