Tag Archives: Zack Snyder

Entertainment

Marvel Sequel Will Be His Last

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Drax’s final ride comes in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Image: Marvel Studios

Ten years ago, when James Gunn cast former professional wrestler Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, some were skeptical. Sure, this dude was a charismatic wrestler, but could he act? Oh, how that has changed, now that Bautista’s breakout Marvel Studios role has propelled him into a diverse, impressive acting career. Though the character is a fan favorite, the actor reveals that he never wanted Drax to be his signature role and that he’ll officially be leaving it behind this May when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 his theaters.

“I’m so grateful for Drax. I love him,” Bautista told GQ magazine. “But there’s a relief [that it’s over]. It wasn’t all pleasant. It was hard playing that role. The makeup process was beating me down. And I just don’t know if I want Drax to be my legacy—it’s a silly performance, and I want to do more dramatic stuff.”

So, there are a few things to unpack here and we’ll start with what we know. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 writer/director James Gunn confirmed on his Instagram Stories that, yes, the upcoming film will be the final time Bautista plays Drax. Does that mean Drax will be recast (which Bautista himself said he’s cool with)? Does he die? Does he just go off and leave the Guardians? Those answers will come in a few months. But, for now, we at least know where these feelings are coming from.

As for Bautista’s relief at leaving it behind, you almost understand that too. While Drax is a big, boisterous character, matching Bautista’s physical stature, those aren’t the types of characters he’s most interested in playing. For example, in the GQ profile, he talks about just wanting to work more and more with director Denis Villeneuve, who cast Bautista in small roles in both Blade Runner 2049 and Dune (though the role is significantly expanded in this year’s Dune: Part Two). “If I could be a number one [on the callsheet] with Denis, I would do it for fucking free,” the actor said. “I think that’s how I could find out how good I could be. He brings out the best in me. He sees me in a different light, sees the performer that I want to be. That might be how I solve the puzzle.”

He’s also worked with the likes of Sam Mendes, Zack Snyder, Rian Johnson, and, later this year, M. Night Shyamalan. He’s not afraid to take a smaller role, as long as it means working with someone great. And while Gunn is certainly great, after three full films, a Holiday Special, and several other Marvel cameos, you understand how a performer like that is ready to leave it behind and try something new.

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What do you think happens to Drax in Guardians 3? Let us know below.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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Warner Bros. Discovery proposes “10 year plan” for DC

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WB Studio Tour
Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer (Getty Images)

Can DC ever chart a course to navigate out of Marvel’s shadow? That’s been the question for the last 10 years (since the conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy). Newly crowned Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav thinks he has the answer, which is… the same thing the guys before him tried to do, basically.

“You look at Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman—these are brands that are known everywhere in the world,” Zaslav said on the infamous WB earnings call (per The Hollywood Reporter). “We have done a reset. We’ve restructured the business where we are going to focus, where there is going to be a team with a ten year plan focusing just on DC. We believe we can build a much more sustainable business.”

Oh, gee, a 10 year plan? Why didn’t anyone think of that before? It’s a strange bit of corporate gaslighting to pretend we weren’t all around for the attempted Zack Snyder-verse. Further, it’s not much of a “reset” when only one film (Batgirl) was canceled and the rest–which are all still tangled up in the Snyderverse to some degree–are going forward (even the dreaded Flash film).

“It’s very similar to the structure Alan Horn, [former Disney CEO] Bob Iger and Kevin Feige put together very effectively at Disney,” said Zaslav, as if copy-pasting from the MCU handbook worked for any of his predecessors. He may want to consider that Feige is someone that directors actually want to work for; the Marvel boss’ compassionate response to Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah after Batgirl was canned only makes Zaslav and DC look even worse in comparison.

But Zaslav is determined to “focus on quality” and not “release any film before it’s ready,” which sounds more like the baseline for the film industry than an innovative new strategy. “The objective is to grow the DC brand. To grow the DC characters,” he said. “But also, our job is to protect the DC brand, and that’s what we’re going to do.” DC fans will surely sleep better knowing this is the guy protecting their beloved heroes.

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Entertainment

Oscars Fan Favorite Vote Not Led by Spider-Man: No Way Home

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“Spidey who?” asks the cast of Cinderella.
Image: Amazon

Never underestimate the scope of fandom. That’s a lesson the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is currently learning, if we’re to believe a report from Deadline last week. The trade said that while most assumed a popular comic book movie like Spider-Man: No Way Home or Zack Snyder’s Justice League, both of which have rabid online followings, would easily take the crown in the newly announced Oscars Fan Favorite category (as probably intended), the film leading at the end of last week was actually Amazon’s Cinderella.

Yes. Cinderella. Starring pop star Camila Cabello, Billy Porter, Idina Menzel, Pierce Brosnan, and others, it’s a film which Sony, the studio behind No Way Home, sold to Amazon Studios back in May of last year. According to the report, fans of Cabello “were simply flooding the Academy’s Fan Fave site” last week giving it more momentum, and votes, than any other film. Oh, and it gets worse. Johnny Depp’s fans did the same thing. Yes, Deadline also reports that fans of the troubled actor have also been voting for a film called Minamata which got a small Oscar qualifying release last year and was subsequently ignored by the Academy. “Let’s do it for Johnny,” people are supposedly tweeting.

To be fair here, Deadline’s report came out on Friday, February 18, before the long weekend, and it’s not clear where, specifically, the site got its data. So this could just be a expertly placed piece of public relations to encourage fans of Spider-Man and Superman to continue voting their hearts out. But if enough fans of Camila Cabello do, in fact, outvote superhero fans I think that’s great—it’s the perfect reminder that if you come up with a stupid idea odds are it will not usually work out in the way you’d hope.

Voting for the Oscar Fan Favorite continues through the beginning of March and you can vote, and read more, on the official site.

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Entertainment

Ben Affleck Calls Justice League the “Nadir” of His Career

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Image: Warner Bros.

The development of 2017 (and later 2021’s) Justice League is one of the most well-documented messes of a film in recent history, and its stars are still feeling its impact years later. Ray Fisher’s spoken about his time working on the film the most, but this weekend, it’s Ben Affleck in the spotlight for his words on the troubled film.

Affleck, speaking to the LA Times, was asked about his short-lived rocky time as Batman that began with 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. At the time, the 49-year-old actor was reported to also be headlining, writing, and directing a solo Batman movie that would eventually become The Batman. But it was his alcohol addiction and the realization of where his life was going that made him drop out to seek treatment. “I looked at it [Batman] and thought, ‘I’m not gonna be happy doing this. The person who does this should love it,’” Affleck recalled. “I probably would have loved doing it at 32 or something. But it was the point where I started to realize it’s not worth it.”

Speaking rather candidly, the actor continued to talk about how Justice League in particular was what he considered “the nadir” of his career. With everything going on at the time — his divorce, the “competing agendas” at Warner Bros., and the death of director Zack Snyder’s daughter Autumn — working on the film was just torture. Describing it as “everything that I didn’t like about this,” he knew that was the moment where he had to leave Batman entirely, but also added that at that point in his life, anything could’ve set him off. “It’s not even about, like, Justice League was so bad. Because it could have been anything.” Bleak as it sounds for Affleck, there is somewhat of a happy ending here: he’s returning to the character for November’s Flash movie, and it sounds like he had some fun with his iteration of the character before putting him to rest.

Now that Batman’s behind him, Affleck’s reorienting himself towards pursuing projects he genuinely wants to do, like last year’s The Last Duel. While the film underperformed financially, his performance as Count Pierre d’Alençon was something he enjoyed doing, and many viewers enjoyed watching. “I really loved the movie!…I was disappointed more people didn’t see it, but I can’t chase what’s going to be cool.” That realization of needing to stick to his guns is what he thinks will be better for every actor going forward, and the industry in general. “I’m not preoccupied with notions of success or failure about money or commercial success, because those things really corrupt your choices. Then what happens is the movies are less interesting and you’re less good.”

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Suicide Squad Director David Ayer is Upset With Warner Bros.

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Will Smith and David Ayer on set for Suicide Squad 2016
Image: Warner Brothers

David Ayer, director of the 2016 Suicide Squad, has taken to Twitter to discuss his experience shooting the film.

The upcoming release of James Gunn’s Suicide Squad film has drummed up old feelings that Ayer needs to get off his chest officially. From his three-page letter posted to his Twitter last Thursday, fans now know a bit more about his experience working on the movie.

Ayer’s letter comes in response to a Tweet from film critic Tim Grierson at Screen Daily who said, “Well, here’s something I didn’t expect to write: I really loved The SuicideSquad,” wrote Grierson. “Many times while watching the new movie, I thought, ‘Yeah, David Ayer should just abandon the idea of that director’s cut.’”

As a writer/director David Ayer is hit (End of Watch, Training Day) or miss (Sabotage, Bright). However, all his films have a signature tone and style that I can admit is missing from his version of the Suicide Squad. The 2016 movie looks and feels it was created in an executive boardroom, so it’s understandable why Ayer has disowned it.

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“The studio cut is not my movie. Read that again,” he wrote. “And my cut is not the 10-week director’s cut – It’s a fully mature edit by Lee Smith standing on the incredibly [sic] work by John Gilroy. It’s all Steven Price’s brilliant score, with not a single radio song in the whole thing. It has traditional character arcs, amazing performances, and solid 3rd Act resolution.”

Ayer noted that he isn’t a hater. In fact, he praises Gunn’s version and all involved. “I’m so proud of James and excited for the success that’s coming. I support WB and am thrilled the franchise is getting the legs it needs,” he wrote. “I’m rooting for everyone, the cast, the crew. Every movie is a miracle. And Jame’s [sic] brilliant work will be the miracle of miracles.”

Warner Bros. isn’t going to shell out the same amount of money they gave to Zack Snyder to complete his cut of the Justice League, so let’s hope Ayer’s Suicide Squad doesn’t require any reshoots or additional footage. Can the director garner enough hype around #releasetheayercut to get HBO to acquiesce?

The Suicide Squad is set for release in theaters in the U.S. and on the HBO Max streaming platform on August 6.

 

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Entertainment

Zack Snyder Working With Netflix

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Expect to see a lot less of some of these guys, and a lot more zombies.
Image: Netflix

Rob Zombie keeps teasing his Munsters remake. Expect Halloween Ends to go a bit smaller after Halloween Kills’ bloody escalation. Plus, what’s to come on Fort Salem, Legends of Tomorrow, and Stargirl. To me, my spoilers!

The Bog

Deadline reports Jonathan Bennett, Janel Parrish, Mark Ryder, Timothy Murphy, and Robert Clohessy will star in The Bog, a new horror film from director Myles Clohessy about “two couples” who “decide to take an epic hiking trip into the remote Scottish Highlands to get away from it all, reconnect and stay at one of the secluded ancient cottages that dot the area. What starts as the time of their lives—and much-needed, doctor-requested couples retreat—quickly spirals out of control for the group of friends in the isolated, harrowing mountain territory. There, they find themselves terrorized by unknown locals and unbeknownst to them, are subjected to a thousand-year-old mystical hunting ritual.”

The Zombie Wedding

Deadline also reports the supermarket tabloid Weekly World News will “develop film, TV and podcast projects based on the company’s library of over 110,000 articles and 300+ original characters” through a brand-new production arm, Weekly World News Studios. The company’s first project is titled The Zombie Wedding, a “horror-comedy with music” about “a young South Carolina couple” who “decide to go through with their long-awaited wedding – during the Zombie Apocalypse! Unfortunately, he’s a zombie and she’s not. Their families are nervous, but the humans prove to be overly judgmental. When the Zombies begin feeling brain deprived, the ceremony takes a turn for the weird. WWN reporters are there to cover this wild wedding, while trying to get out alive.” Tonya Pinkins is attached to direct.

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Army of the Dead 2

According to THR, Netflix is moving forward with a direct sequel to Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead. This is in addition to the spinoff.

Your Name

Deadline also has word director Lee Isaac Chung (Minari) has stepped down from directing Bad Robot’s live-action remake of Your Name.

The Munsters

Rob Zombie shared three photos of Herman Munster’s prosthetic forehead application on Instagram.

Halloween Kills/Halloween Ends

In a recent interview with Total Film Magazine (via Games Radar), producer Malek Akkad stated Halloween Ends will be “way more contained” than the upcoming Halloween Kills, so expect a cliffhanger ending.

She-Hulk

Deadline reports Arrow’s Prometheus, Josh Segarra, has joined the cast of She-Hulk in a currently undisclosed role.

Moonhaven

Kadeem Hardison has also joined the cast of AMC’s Moonhaven as Arlo, the partner to Dominic Monaghan’s detective Paul Serno. “Arlo is a third-generation ‘Mooner’ and detective with a curious heart and healing spirit who finds himself an unlikely soldier in the fight to keep Moonhaven alive.” [Deadline]

Legends of Tomorrow

Comic Book has a synopsis for “The Final Frame”—the August 8 return episode of Legends of Tomorrow.

STRIKE ZONE – When the Legends track down another Alien pod, they find a device that transports them to a cosmic bowling alley. Before consulting Sara (Caity Lotz), Astra (Olivia Swann) and Rory (Dominic Purcell), Spooner (Lisseth Chavez) makes a bet against the reigning champs for a ride back to the Waverider, but not everyone is happy about the plan when they realize what they are up against. Elsewhere, Nate (Nick Zano) plans a romantic date for him and Zari (Tala Ashe), but nothing goes as planned. Meanwhile, Behrad (Shayan Sobhian) and Gary (Adam Tsekham) try to distract Ava (Jes Macallan), from what’s going on with wedding planning. Matt Ryan also stars. Jes Macallan directed the episode written by James Eagan & Ray Utarnachitt.

Stargirl

Wildcat hunts Solomon Grundy in the synopsis for “Summer School: Chapter One” — the season premiere of Stargirl.

SCHOOL’S OUT — With summer break around the corner, Pat (Luke Wilson) suggests the family take a vacation after seeing that Courtney (Brec Bassinger) has been spending too much time focused on being Stargirl and not enough time on her schoolwork. Meanwhile, as Beth (Anjelika Washington) attempts to reconnect with Chuck, she stumbles upon a major secret her parents have been keeping from her. Elsewhere, Yolanda (Yvette Monreal) continues to be haunted by Brainwave’s death, and Rick (Cameron Gellman) secretly tracks Solomon Grundy after suspecting he may still be in the area. Amy Smart, Trae Romano, Hunter Sansone and Meg DeLacy also star. Andi Armaganian directed the episode written by Geoff Johns.

[Comic Book]

Motherland: Fort Salem

Finally, there’s a cool sea creature blood ritual in the trailer for next week’s episode of Motherland: Fort Salem.

Banner art by Jim Cook

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Entertainment

Zack Snyder Netflix Zombie Action

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Dave Bautista and friends are going zombie hunting.
Screenshot: Netflix

Trailer FrenzyA special place to find the newest trailers for movies and TV shows you’re craving.

Yes, in recent years director Zack Snyder has become synonymous with the comic book heroes of DC. But let’s not forget where he got his start: with zombies—and with muscle-bound men brutalizing each other in slow motion. And after several years in the world of comics, Snyder is going back to those not-so-humble beginnings.

We’re talking zombies. We’re talking action. We’re talking Army of the Dead, Snyder’s latest film which will be released on Netflix May 21. The film stars Guardians of the Galaxy’s Dave Bautista, as one of a group of mercenaries who swoop into Las Vegas to rob a casino. Sounds dangerous enough, it’s but even more so since it’s happening during a zombie apocalypse where Las Vegas has already been lost. Here’s the first trailer for Army of the Dead.

We’ll have much more on the trailer later this week. For now, tell us what you think in the comments below.

Army of the Dead hits Netflix May 21.

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Entertainment

Godzilla Vs. Kong fans ask to #ContinueTheMonsterverse

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Godzilla Vs. Kong
Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures

Zack Snyder fans successfully orchestrated a campaign to get Warner Bros.’ attention and convince the studio to release Zack Snyder’s director’s cut version of Justice League—which turned into the extremely expensive and marginally improved Zack Snyder’s Justice League—proving once and for all that if a fanbase is loud enough and pushy enough, they can make any ridiculous dream a reality (provided their dream coincides with a movie studio feeling an overwhelming sense of desperation over how much Content is available on its new streaming platform). The point is: They did it. It worked. They tweeted enough hashtags and got in enough people’s replies and made so much noise that Warner Bros. decided that it actually made sense to throw millions and millions of dollars at shutting them up (but in a nice way). Now… it’s happening again.

Today, while Christians on Twitter celebrated Easter by getting “Jesus” to trend at number two in the United States (we’re just being snarky, “Happy Easter” is currently number one), Godzilla fans got “#ContinueTheMonsterverse” to show up in the top 10 as well. The need for the hashtag is based on that idea that Godzilla Vs. Kong seems like the end of the series that Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. have been working on since Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla in 2014, since the studios haven’t announced any kaiju movies that are in the works after this new one. Unsurprisingly, people who like to see impossibly big gorillas jumping around in the hollow core of the Earth and respectable actors saying lines like “Godzilla’s hurting people and we don’t know why” would like to see more of those things, and they think that getting #ContinueTheMonsterverse to trend on social media will get WB and Legendary’s attention.

And would you look at that? It did. Today, Legendary tweeted out a simple observation of the trending topic, confirming that, yes, it is aware that people would like more of these monster movies. Nothing new has been announced, but this at least seems like a good sign for more city-smashing fun and gleefully nonsensical mythology to come. After all, these movies haven’t even introduced Godzilla’s awful son Minilla yet, and now that the Mechagodzilla card has been played, there’s no reason Legendary and WB can’t do Jet Jaguar.

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