…First director Josh Trank lambasted Fox’s Fantastic Four, and now Twenty-First Century Fox chief Rupert Murdoch has blamed the superhero bomb for his company coming in short of projected earnings for the first fiscal quarter, stating that: “Our quarterly results reflect the expected impact of challenging comparisons for our film studio due to the timing of key releases, as well as the poor performance of The Fantastic Four.” Estimates suggest that the reboot left Fox some $80 million in the red, having earned less than $170 million globally…
…Shifting to the DC Extended Universe now and Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice producer Charles Roven has been speaking about Warner’s DC “Brain Trust” – consisting of himself, Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, DC’s CCO Geoff Johns and Warner exec John Berg – and the studios filmmaker driven approach to the DCEU: “I’m working with great people. They’re all really great people. [What] I really love about what we’re doing is we’re also bringing in really talented other filmmakers and having them come in and create—I call it the sandbox. We’ve got this sandbox of the Justice League DC characters, and we are hoping to create—this series of movies that we’ve announced are somewhat interlinked. The characters move at a throughline that hopefully will take us all the way to Justice League 2, but they also can interact in the other films as well in some way. So if, for example, The Flash movie or the Aquaman film is gonna come out after Justice League 1, it’s not gonna be a completely different character; that character will have evolved from Justice League 1. Wonder Woman, when we see her in Justice League 1, will have evolved from Batman v Superman. Unless we decide that in one of these stories we’re gonna do something that happened in the past and have it be more of an origination story, in which case you’ll realize how that character became what they were in the movie that they were first introduced…”
…Cinema chain Odeon has posted what may be a new synopsis for Batman v Superman (or something that they’ve knocked together themselves), which reads: “At long last, see Batman and Superman square off against each other in Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice, an epic superhero showdown which will change both their lives forever. Clark Kent doesn’t trust Gotham’s mysterious masked vigilante. Bruce Wayne doesn’t trust the alien who nearly destroyed Metropolis. And Lex Luthor, who hates Superman more than anyone, is manipulating both of them for his own twisted ends. Choose your side: the Man of Steel or the Dark Knight? Learn the answer to the age-old question – who would win? – in Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice…”
…With production on Wonder Woman slated to get underway this month, it’s been reported that Nicole Kidman (Batman Forever) is in talks for a return to the DC universe, and while character details are being kept under wraps speculation suggests she could be playing Hyppoltya, Queen of the Amazons and Diana’s biological mother. Kidman would join Batman v Superman’s Gal Gadot as the Amazon Princess, along with Chris Pine as Steve Trevor…
…After scoring 12.9 million viewers for its premiere episode, the ratings for CBS’ Supergirl took a dive this past Monday, although the second episode ‘Stronger Together’ still managed to pull in 8.9 million viewers, with a 2.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic. This week has brought us a couple of casting announcements, with Emma Caulfield (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) set to play Cameron Chase and Tawny Cypress (Unforgettable) as anti-alien Senator Miranda Crane; meanwhile, we’ve also got a promo for this Monday’s third episode ‘Fight or Flight’ [see here] and a couple of clips from the episode featuring Supergirl fighting Reactron [see here], along with some promotional images from the fourth episode ‘How Does She Do It?’ [see here] and a batch of stills from the fifth episode ‘Livewire’, which includes the debut of the DC villain, along with former Supergirl Helen Slater [see here and here]…
…Gotham has also expanded its cast with another villain this week, with Tommy Flanagan (Sons of Anarchy) cast as the original character The Knife, who is described as one of the city’s “most dangerous denizens. His charming, stylish shell and good humor mask a remorseless hitman whose skills are at the service of the highest bidder. He will sit with you, laugh with you, and then cut your throat.” You can also watch a promo from Monday’s upcoming eighth episode of season two ‘Tonight’s the Night’ here, as well as four clips from the episode here…
…Matt Ryan’s John Constantine arrived in Star City this past Wednesday, with the supernatural detective helping Arrow to score a 10% increase in viewers over the previous week and giving the show its highest ratings since the season four premiere. You can check out a featurette that offers an inside look at ‘Haunted’ here, along with Jessie Robertson’s review of the episode here, while we’ve also got a trailer, promo and batch of images for next Wednesday’s episode ‘Lost Souls’ for you here…
…The Flash was also celebrating ratings-wise this week, with ‘The Darkness and the Light’ pulling in 3.7 million viewers, a high for the second season. Read Jessie Robertson’s review of the episode here, and you can also take a look at a trailer, promo and images for this Tuesday’s ‘Enter Zoom’ here and here, along with a brand new season two poster featuring Barry alongside the Earth-2 Harrison Wells here…
…On the DC animated front, it has been announced that Ralph Fiennes has signed on to lend his voice to Alfred Pennyworth in 2017’s The LEGO Batman Movie. Fiennes joins Will Arnett, who reprises his role as Batman from The LEGO Movie, while other cast members include Michael Cera as Robin, Rosario Dawson as Batgirl and Zach Galifianakis as The Joker…
…You can take a look at a promo for Thursday’s ninth episode of Heroes Reborn, entitled ‘Sundae, Bloody Sundae’ over on our YouTube channel here, and be sure to check out Tai Freligh’s review of episode seven ‘June 13, Part One’ here…
…If you’ve been anxiously awaiting Relativity Media’s long-planned remake of The Crow, you’ll be excited to hear that that the project looks to be moving forward again, with director Corin Hardy gearing up to go into production on the film in March 2016. As yet, there’s no word on who’ll be headlining as Eric Draven, with both Luke Evans and Jack Huston having previously pulled out…
…The first trailer has arrived online for Nick Love’s upcoming superhero comedy American Hero, which stars Stephen Dorff as “Melvin, a reluctant hero who is far from super, has been suppressing his telekinetic powers for years with booze, drugs, and women. In the process, he has failed at practically everything, most of all as a parent to his son. After a brush with death, Melvin decides to use his powers for good and clean up the streets of New Orleans with the help of his best friend/definitely-not-a-sidekick, Lucille (Eddie Griffin). For a man who can do the impossible, it might be a fight even he can’t win.” Check out the trailer here…
…From American Hero to The Greatest American Hero, and it looks like The LEGO Movie directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller are taking a second stab at a remake of the cult 80s TV series, with the duo teaming up with Dope helmer Rick Famuyiwa for a single-camera comedy pilot that will explore “what happens when great power is not met with great responsibility. An ordinary man, completely content with being average, wakes up with a superpower suit he never asked for and has to deal with the complications it brings his life…”
..And finally, we close on some sad news, with George Barris – designer of the iconic Batmobile from the 1966 Batman TV series – has passed away aged 89. “George’s design contributions to the legendary 1966 Batmobile thrilled fans of the classic Batman TV show, left an indelible mark on Batman legacy and lore and is still recognized as one of the most iconic vehicles of all time,” reads an official statement on the DC website.
Gary Collinson is a writer and lecturer from the North East of England. He is the editor-in-chief of FlickeringMyth.com and the author of Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen.
