Like many of you, I want to see DC Entertainment start making amazing comic book movies like Marvel is currently doing. DC is still in the process of trying to find their way, and they think that DC Comics writer and producer Geoff Johns is the answer to their problems. 

Kevin Feige has been one of the main brains behind Marvel Studios and the success it has seen with their movies. I know hardcore DC fans will dismiss the success and not agree, but the proof is in all the positive reviews and the box office numbers. DC has done well, but it’s not at the caliber that Marvel is yet critically. It can get there, though! The question is, can Johns take the DCEU to the next level of awesomeness?

Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara thinks he will. In a recent interview with New York Times, Tsujihara revealed that the studio is doing well. He explains that they’ve made $1.6 billion that was earned by films such as Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad. 

"Quietly, we’ve been having an amazing year. The narrative, over all, has not reflected that. People overlook our consistency." 

He goes on to say that they are still not satisfied and they want to release films that both critics and fans will praise. According to the Times, "Mr. Tsujihara said he was confident that management changes he has been making (putting a pair of executives, Geoff Johns and Jon Berg, in charge of superhero movies, for instance) will make for more satisfied fans. With any luck, even a critic or two could come around."

The first big film to be released under the guidance of Johns and Berg will be Wonder Woman, which looks pretty amazing. And according to Tsujihara, it is. He says that’s the film that gives him confidence in the studio’s new direction, "The thing that really makes me confident is that I’ve seen Wonder Woman, and it’s great."

Before Johns and Berg came along the DCEU was being headed up by Zack Snyder, who I’m sure will continue to have a heavy influence on how these movies are made. It seems like there may be a clear vision in place for the upcoming slate of DC movies, but only time will tell if Johns and his team will be able to bring their DCEU films up to the golden standard that Marvel Studios has set.

Doctor Strange has been out long enough for most of you to see and enjoy it, so here's a fun spoiler filled video from Mr. Sunday Movies that points out all of the Easter eggs, cameos, and references in the mystical adventure. 

Doctor Strange is easily one of the best films Marvel has made so far. Not only did it offer us some mind-blowing visuals and action sequences, but it told a moving and powerful story of learning to be a better person. 

There are a lot of interesting things that you may have missed the first time around in seeing the movie, and this video does a solid job of pointing everything out, including a few things we already talked about. I just can't wait to see the character continue to grow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe because he's going to unlock even more awesome magical powers!

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg sure seem to be loving the TV world. They've already developed the awesome AMC series Preacher and the upcoming Hulu show Future Man. Now they are set to produce and help develop two upcoming comedy series.

The first project is a superhero-themed show that is set up at Fox. It's being developed by Mike Rosolio (Lemmings), and it "centers on an ambitious MIT graduate who gets a job working for a Steve Jobs-esque tech genius, only to learn he’s also a vigilante superhero by night forcing her to become the unwitting Alfred to his Batman."

The second series is set up at ABC and focuses on the Illuminati, which is a society that a lot of conspiracy theorists love to talk about. That show is being developed by Brad Copeland (Life In Pieces, The Inbetweeners), and it "centers on a young couple struggles to balance marriage and suburban life with the fact that one of them is in the Illuminati." 

Rogen and Goldberg both have a great eye for good comedy, and I don't think they would attach their names to anything that they don't think has the potential to be great. Both these projects seem like they have promise, and I'm sure they'll be worth looking forward to. 

There were parts of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice that I thought were great and other parts that I didn't like. In the end, the film entertained me, but I thought it could have been better. 

Everyone has their own thoughts on the film, and I've seen more hate for it than I've seen praise. Whether you liked the film or not, I've got a video here that you've got to watch! It's called "Batman v Superman: Allegory," and it beautifully interprets parts of the film that might have hidden meanings and it does it all to the sweet sounds of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Lacrimosa."

I think there's a good chance that this video could give you a whole new appreciation for the film and what director Zack Snyder may have been trying to do. Watch the video and let us know what you think.

A whole new magical franchise for the Harry Potter universe is going to launch next week when Warner Bros. releases Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. That will be followed by four other films, and the next one will introduce a villainous dark wizard by the name of Grindelwald. It’s been confirmed that Johnny Depp will be playing this character.

I’m actually pretty excited to see Depp in the role, but a lot of fans seem like they’re tired of seeing Depp play these kinds of characters. There’s a reason why he was cast in the part, though, and director David Yates recently explained why the actor is perfect for it. During an interview with The Leaky Cauldron, he said:

“Johnny Depp is a real artist. He’s created several characters who have really resonated in our popular culture. He’s a really brilliant, brilliant actor. We were excited about seeing what he would do with this guy, the character. He’s fearless; he’s imaginative; he’s ambitious. We thought he would do something fun and special. So we went for him, purely on that selfish basis. We don’t care if he’s famous or not famous. We just know he’s interesting.”

You really can’t argue with his points of Depp being fearless, imaginative, and ambitious. Depp is one hell of a wild actor, and producer David Heyman explained that Depp has the weight and boldness to bring Grindelwald to life on the big screen:

“Grindelwald is an iconic character, so it was important to have someone who had that weight. There’s a reason why he has that weight. It’s because, you know, he’s a fine actor who makes unexpected choices.”

It’ll definitely be interesting to see what Depp ends up doing with this character. We’ve seen Depp play villains in films such as Sweeney Todd and Black Mass, and you have to admit he was pretty awesome in those. Yates also talked about the Fantastic Beasts sequels and said that they won’t deal as much with magical creatures. 

“Currently the beasts feature slightly less in the second film, and Grindelwald takes more of a foreground. Currently. But we love the beasts so much. There’s an amazing beast in the second movie–a Chinese beast, actually–that is featured. We’re exploring how we can get a couple more beasts into the second film, with [J.K. Rowling].”

I’m curious to see what this Chinese beast ends up being. My first thought is it could be some form of dragon, but we’ll have to wait and see. Regardless of the number of "beasts" that we’ll be seeing in these sequels, they are still sticking with the Fantastic Beasts title. Heyman explained how it will make sense:

“In a way the beasts are the creatures in the case. But it’s also the beast in each of us. […] I think beasts will continue to play a part in some score. It’s also so much a part of what Jo writes about. It’s the consequences of repression.”

I don’t care what the movie is called. I’m just excited that we get to spend more time in this magical world that J.K. Rowling started with Harry Potter. 

Paramount Pictures has scheduled Skydance Media’s Mission: Impossible 6 to be released on July 27th, 2018. You know what that means? It means that Tom Cruise might battle Jason Momoa at the box office because that’s the same date that Warner Bros. is looking to release James Wan’s Aquaman. 

I’m a big fan of Cruise’s Mission: Impossible franchise. The last movie, Rogue Nation, was pretty awesome, so it’s good to know that writer and director of that film, Christopher McQuarrie, is coming back to helm the sixth film in the franchise as well. He will be the first director in the franchise to direct two films.

When talking about the sequel at CinemaCon last year, Cruise said that there will have "more incredible set pieces, stunts…and what I think is a very entertaining and compelling story.” The director later explained that the film would have its own unique style.

I’m excited to see what mission Ethan Hunt and his team take on next. Rebecca Ferguson is also set to reprise her role as the mysterious Ilsa Faust from the last film. I’m sure the rest of the usual suspects will return as well. 

Paramount has also set a December 22, 2017 release date for Alexander Payne’s next film, Downsizing.

"Witness" is a mesmerizing CG animated short film that tells the story of a man who is tracking down a mysterious killer to avenge the death of his wife. There's no dialogue used or needed to tell this emotional, powerful, and dark story. The visual storytelling is extremely well-done, and I really loved how it came together. I especially like the unsettling twist at the end. 

The short was created by three filmmakers from the L'école Georges Méliès art school in France named Alexandre Berger, Christ Ibovy, and Hugo Rizzon. As you'll see, this is a talented and creative team that gave us something that's truly impressive. This is a must watch film, so I hope you take the time to watch it. 

Via: FirstShowing

It looks like we are getting at least one more game in the Metro series. The announcement was made on the official website after a passage from the final book, Metro 2035, was teased in English...read more on Gametyrant

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Ever since Michael Keaton was cast as a villain in Marvel's Spider-Man: Homecoming, fans believed that he would be taking on the role of the Vulture. Until today, there's been no official word on who Keaton would be playing, but Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige confirmed that Keaton is indeed playing Vulture in the film. 

During an interview with The Toronto Sun, Feige talked about his wish list of actors that are playing villains in their films, and that's where he dropped the news:

"We’ve had a wish list and most of them in the near-term are coming together. Cate Blanchett is playing Hela in Thor: Ragnarok. Michael Keaton’s Vulture in Spider-Man is something. And of course, finally, we’re showcasing Josh Brolin’s Thanos (in Avengers: Infinity War). We’re looking forward to that very much."

We have yet to see any photos of Keaton in the role, so Marvel has done a good job keeping the Vulture reveal under wraps. However, yesterday we posted a leaked piece of concept art featuring one of the designs for Vulture that you can see here.

I have no doubt that Keaton is going to be awesome in the role of Vulture. The guy is one of my favorite actors, and it's so cool that he landed a role like this. I can't wait to see what he does with it!

Spider-Man: Homecoming is set to be released in theaters on July 7, 2017.

Fox has had a solid run with their X-Men film franchise under the guidance of Bryan Singer, but it looks like they are looking to move on and try something different. A recent report from THR says that Fox sees "signs of wear and tear on a franchise." X-Men: Apocalypse didn't do as well as they had hoped. On top of that, Hugh Jackman is about to end his run as Wolverine with Logan and the contracts for Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, and Nicholas Hoult are up. If Fox wants them back they are going to have to fork over a lot of money to re-up their contracts. 

Box-office analyst Paul Degarabedian told the site, "You're gauged by the success of the franchise. This one [X-Men: Apocalypse] didn't engender the love of previous movies. It's time to go back to the drawing board." It sounds like Fox understands this and is looking to really shake things up. THR goes on to report that Fox is looking to reboot the franchise... without Singer. They say:

Elsewhere, the reset button has been pressed. Sources say the flagship series will be reconfigured, with Simon Kinberg, overseer of the franchise as producer and writer, working on a new script. Singer, who directed four X-Men movies, will not be returning, according to insiders, but the script is being written with Lawrence, Fassbender and McAvoy optimistically in mind.

So even though Singer isn't expected to return, they are still hoping to reboot the franchise with Lawrence, Fassbender, and McAvoy. Only time will tell if that will happen. It'll be interesting to see how they plan to restart the franchise with or without these main cast members. I assume the new young versions of Cyclops, Jean, and Nightcrawler will return, but the report doesn't say anything about that.

The report goes on to say that Fox is also already planning Deadpool 3, and they are "readying a filmmaker search for a storyline that will involve another X-team, X-Force." The studio still hasn't officially announced a director for Deadpool 2 since Tim Miller dropped out, but David Leitch (John Wick), Drew Goddard (Cabin in the Woods, Daredevil), and Magnus Martens (Luke Cage) have all been mentioned as possibilities. 

It's kind of cool to hear that Deadpool will help launch the X-Force franchise. I wonder if that means director Jeff Wadlow's X-Force film project is going to be shelved to make room for these possible new plans. Fox has also been developing a Gambit film and a New Mutants film, and I have no idea what the fate of those projects will be. 

It sounds like Fox has some big decisions to make, and I'm curious to see what they end up doing. What would you like to see Fox do with the X-Men franchise? 

Kevin Smith has been making geek-friendly movies for more than twenty years, and because of his career experience, his passion for those kinds of projects, and his extensive history writing comics, he's become something of a go-to guy to direct The CW's comic book TV shows like The Flash and Supergirl. Yesterday, Smith was directing season 2, episode 9 of Supergirl and decided to let us all in on the process with a Facebook Live video that took us into the production's sound stage and revealed how Melissa Benoist's Supergirl flies on the show. Take a look below (and as you'd probably expect from Smith, there's some NSFW language here):

Via: io9

Footage of a pitch for a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing has now hit the web. For those who may be familiar with this before, this is NOT the same game that came...read more on Gametyrant

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The Uncharted film will begin shooting next year, and director Shawn Levy isn't taking your casting suggestions to heart. Collider spoke to the director who confirmed it is the next film he is working on:

"Yes, that’s my next project. Normally, as a director, you’re attached to something—I know of at least one director in this room—it’s like, the dance we always do is, 'Oh, I’m attached to this,' and then you look at my IMDb page and it looks like I’m making 19 movies. Uncharted, I am not messing around. I am so committed to this thing and I’m in it on the script level with Joe Carnahan, who knows what he’s doing; that’s been a really frickin’ fun collaboration."

Good to hear he's passionate about it! As for who the studio is keeping an eye out for an actor to portray the leading man, Levy says they haven't made any solid offers or decisions for who will play Nathan Drake:

"The truth is, the conversations that are happening right now are with the studio and the producers talking about who feels right to us and to me."

The bad news is all those tweets you've sent him about how you think your favorite actor would be good for the film are falling upon deaf ears:

"I’ve been pitched everyone. God bless you, Twitter, but I made a joke that, “You’re saving me the money of hiring a casting director, Twitter,” because from Nikolaj [Coster-Waldau] to Oscar Isaac, [Nathan] Fillion, everyone that you would, [Chris] Pratt, Chris Evans, Chris Pine, I mean the suggestions are... It’s every actor who is ruggedly handsome, which is to say every movie star, and who looks anything like the square-jawed, chiseled-featured Drake. I’m not actually going to base my casting on Twitter suggestions. Maybe I’ve even said the name in this room; who knows. Eventually, if people keep suggesting ideas and actors, one of them will prove to be true. We’re very hard at work on the script right now."

From that list, I would be cool with Chris Evans. He's not the most high profile guy on the list, but I think his acting style best fits Nathan Drake. Who's your pick for the leading man? Mind you, Shawn Levy isn't listening either way. 

From like age 5-9 I didn't have cable television and used to watch Entertainment Tonight on the regular. Now, in the age of the Internet? Not so much. As movie media reporting has progressed they've lost their teeth and edge in reporting on relevant news anymore, but they did manage to snag some behind the scenes footage from Ghost In The Shell!

There's one line in particular from leading lady Scarlett Johansson that I think was incredibly honest and as much a message to the viewer as it was her daughter:

"I think more than anything...I want my daughter to feel comfortable taking risks...and know that sometimes you fail and when you win it's awesome...peaks and valleys!"

I paraphrased that so it made more sense in text, but I think Scarlett Jo is well aware the mountain she has to climb in winning fans over with this film. I think that self-awareness means that she's gonna put more of herself into a film to prove us wrong...at least I hope that, anyway. Check out the interview and the action footage in the clip below.

Ghost Rider is one of the best things that could have happened to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. I really like what they are doing with the character and fans seem to like Gabriel Luna in the role of Robbie Reyes a.k.a. Ghost Rider. 

It turns out Marvel actually has bigger plans for the character. It seems Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. may have been a way to test the waters for something bigger for the character. During a recent interview with CB, Luna revealed that Ghost Rider could be going solo in a possible Netflix series or movie. He says:

"I don't have a preference. People talk about 'Ah man he'd be great as a feature,' which is [an] idea too... It could be in the cinema, it could live on Netflix, whatever it is."

That statement was followed by something a little more concrete, saying that the are deals in place for a spinoff project:

"It's been talked about, there's definitely deals in place for that potential. But I just take it one day at a time. I have so much fun now I just want to make sure I get these episodes right. If they throw more episodes on my plate, I will do my best to do well with those stories as well."

I think it'd be a lot of fun to see something happen with this version of Ghost Rider. He's a really fun character and there's so much more they could play with if they expand his story into a solo project.

What do you think about a possible Ghost Rider spinoff? Would you rather see a film or a Netflix series for the character? 

Kevin Feige has confirmed yet again that Doctor Strange will, in fact, play a role in Avengers: Infinity War. Slashfilm had a chance to speak to the producer who revealed a few, albeit very small, details. He talked the most about Infinity Stones and how their presence is becoming increasingly pronounced in the films:

"I think that’s there are a couple of reasons for that. One is as you’re introducing the fourth and fifth versions of these MacGuffins that we’ve been playing with for a long time, you wanna do something different with them and not just have them be an object passed around. So the notion that something is inherent in the literal body of one of your lead heroes is interesting. And the idea that the Eye of Agamotto’s a great relic over the course of Doctor Strange comics anyway. That seemed like it had fun potential to say, you know why it can do a lot of those things? Because it’s this other thing. As we then get into future movies, it also becomes certainly ripe with potential for conflict and drama that it’s not something buried in a cave it’s something he has to go get, but rather something in a beloved hero’s head."

I'll try to leave spoilers out of this for those who haven't seen Doctor Strange...although I have no idea why the hell you are reading this if you haven't seen the movie! Other than stating that Strange will 100% be in the upcoming Avengers film, he didn't say much more. 

One statement that WAS worth mentioning was Feige's teasing of what's to come and somewhat quelling comic book fans expectations:

"I think it clearly is setting up certain things. In the immediate future, being the movies, we’ve announced… I think those with knowledge of the comics may expect things that will not be happening in the movies. Those who don’t know what has happened in the comics will be shocked at what we do. But yeah, once that Gauntlet is on, as the poster of Doctor Strange says, “the impossibilities are endless.” How do you fight that? How can you defeat that? So we play into all of that. We play into all that stuff. I don’t know that we’ll get into Earth 1 thru 616 in any one moment anytime soon."

Sounds like the only thing we can really expect is the unexpected. 

Full disclosure: I think I'm more than a little sleep-deprived and may not find this as funny when I finally get some rest, but I think this might be the greatest thing on the Internet right now! A tortoise acting like Owen Wilson...it's genius. 

If you're sleep-deprived like me or just looking for a distraction from a crazy day, give it a watch and forget the world for a minute!

Even if you didn't think Captain America: Civil War wasn't all that great, I think it's safe to say that the majority of people who walked out of that movie did so with a newfound excitement about Spider-Man. A lot of us had burned out on the character after seeing five solo movies and two different actors playing him on the big screen over a twelve year period, but Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures' unprecedented deal to bring the web-slinger into the Marvel Cinematic Universe under the supervision of Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal has provided a major jolt of life back into Spider-fans around the world.

It helped that the script was strong, but one of the main reasons people are psyched about seeing the ol' webhead again is because 20-year-old Tom Holland completely knocked it out of the park with his performance. His youthful energy, childlike awe, and impressive physicality has us chomping at the bit to see more, and though Marvel is known for excellent casting, they really outdid themselves with that one.

But to hear Holland tell it, he learned that he got the role doing the same thing a lot of us do right before we go to bed:

When we did the screen tests, there were six of us all in this room waiting to audition. It felt like The Hunger Games. [laughs] It was a real weird atmosphere because there's all these kids who really, really want this role. They were like, "We'll let you know tomorrow." Then you find out a month later what the verdict was. I was in my bed scrolling through Instagram. It had been about a month since my audition. And Marvel just posted a photo saying go to our website and find out who the next Spider-Man is. I went on the Marvel website on my computer and there it was: The new Spider-Man is Tom Holland. I went ballistic, like absolutely nuts.

OFFICIAL: Marvel Studios + Sony Pictures have found our #SpiderMan star + director! Head to Marvel.com to see who they are...💥

A photo posted by Marvel Entertainment (@marvel) on Jun 23, 2015 at 9:11am PDT

I remember it being a hard-fought battle between Holland and Asa Butterfield, and it must have been crazy to find out about the results that way. I'm not totally convinced this is actually how it went down. I'd like to think the studio would have called him beforehand to prep him for the onslaught of attention he was about to receive. Maybe Holland tells it this way because it makes for a better story, or maybe he's actually being truthful and Marvel straight up didn't tell him beforehand (which would be weird, but stranger things have happened).

Elsewhere in the same interview with THR, Holland commented about how many movies he's signed on for:

They give you options, and those could be exercised whenever. Like a cameo in Avengers. I'm unclear as to which movies, though. I do know I have three Spider-Man movies and three solo movies contracted. But if you have another movie, Marvel is so good at working around it. They're very respectful of your life, really. They understand that you have to work on other movies, and they try and fix it up so you can work around each other.

Sony better get moving on those solo movies, because Holland isn't getting any younger, and the older he gets, the more they'll have to start inching back toward the types of stories they've already told. The best part about this casting is that he looks like a high school student right now...but that won't last forever.

If you're wanting to jump in and try Mass Effect: Andromeda before anyone else, you have that opportunity. Mass Effect producer sent out a tweet linking to their "beacon program" which...read more on Gametyrant

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Ian Fleming's super spy James Bond has been making waves on our movie screens for more than fifty years, but despite the character's cinematic legacy, I don't see a lot of modern fan art dedicated to Bond or the Bond movies. Perhaps the character is too old fashioned for the hip young artists of today, or maybe the Bond community simply isn't as interested in fan art as other pop culture communities. Either way, today we actually do have a handful of cool Bond-related artwork to share with you, and a lot of them revolve around the recent set of films starring Daniel Craig.

This is the handiwork of artist Ibrahim Moustafa, whose work you can purchase here.

Additionally, I tracked down a few other Bond mini-posters on Moustafa's website that go back beyond Craig's tenure in the tux. These are pretty sweet, also.

Click here to listen to The 5Cast episode in which we discuss the Top 5 James Bond movies of all time.

Via: XombieDirge