Image: Universal Pictures
Chris Luckett
I’m the guy who hated Furious 7.
You knew there was someone in the world, right? After all, the seventh movie in the action racing franchise earned $1.5 billion, making it the sixth-highest grossing film in global history, so clearly a vast number of people loved what the series did with its new evolution. It felt like a huge fall backward to me, though.
Image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Chris Luckett
Pixar and Disney’s own in-house animation studio have had a constant battle for decades, going back to the golden renaissance begun by The Little Mermaid.
Disney held the crown until Pixar came along with Toy Story, usurping the throne and sitting cockily through 2010 with Toy Story 3.
But in-house Disney was banging on the gates since launching its own computer-animated division with Chicken Little in 2006. When Pixar fell into the stagnation of sub-par sequels, Disney swooped in with Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, and Frozen, resurging once again and staying there.
Pixar made an admirable attempt last year to stage a comeback, but the goodwill of Inside Out was eroded somewhat with The Good Dinosaur. The House of Mouse, meanwhile, has followed their winning Zootopia this year with their best animated movie in over twenty years.
Photo: Universal Pictures
Chris Luckett
Because connected movie universes are all the rage now (and because author Robert Ludlum left a plethora of spy novels before his passing fifteen years ago) the world will soon see an expanded Ludlum Cinematic Universe — and Dwayne Johnson is ready to roll.
Johnson will be starring in The Janson Directive for Universal Pictures, as well as executive producing it and subsequent LCU movies.
The Janson Directive‘s plot will revolve around Paul Janson, a former covert-ops agent who comes out of his security consultant retirement when he’s framed for a horrendous crime, teaming up with a former protege sent to kill him.
Two more films are in the pipeline, with more intended to follow. While Johnson is attached to be EP of those as well, it’s unconfirmed whether he’ll also be the star of them yet. If Universal does take that route, Ludlum wrote four sequels to The Janson Directive, which will provide plenty of source material.
With Matt Damon returning to the Ludlum fold this July in Jason Bourne, this also sets up the possibility that Damon may join the LCU. It’s unclear if Damon’s portrayal will be incorporated into Universal’s newly established universe or ignored in favour of a new Jason Bourne in the near future.
(It’s possible they could replace Damon for a fresher face, like Warner Bros. swapping Christian Bale out for Ben Affleck when it came time to bring Batman into their connected DC universe.)
If the current Bourne series does become directly tied into Universal’s LCU, it will also open the door for Jeremy Renner to return as Aaron Cross, the protagonist of 2012’s The Bourne Legacy.
No release date for The Janson Directive has been set.
(Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
Photo: Columbia Pictures
Chris Luckett
Columbia Pictures’ remake of the beloved 1995 movie Jumanji looks to be one player closer to starting production.
Dwayne Johnson signed on to star in the picture three weeks ago and has been posting casting updates on Instagram. Yesterday, Johnson took to his account to welcome Jack Black to the production. Continue reading
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