Jacob Hall
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Furious 7’ Smashes April Records
The early estimates for the opening weekend gross of Furious 7 are all over the place and we probably won’t have a definitive number until tomorrow, when the dust finally settles and everyone gets a chance to breathe. However, this one thing we know for sure: the seventh film in the Fast and Furious series didn’t just shatter in-franchise records, it shattered records for any April release.
The Next ‘Star Wars: Episode 7’ Trailer Will Premiere at Star Wars Celebration
Since Star Wars: Episode 7 is probably the most anticipated movie of the past decade or so, Disney and Lucasfilm were wise to turn the premiere of the first trailer into a bonafide event. Fans flocked to theaters early in the morning just to catch a glimpse of the first footage from the film. Some crazy people (including yours truly) went to a special event where it was screened 40 times in a row. So how do you follow that up? By premiering the next trailer at the world’s biggest Star Wars fan convention and then attaching the preview to the second most anticipated movie of the year.
How ‘Furious 7’ Created a Digital Paul Walker For His Unfinished Scenes
When Paul Walker tragically passed away midway through the production of Furious 7, Universal and director James Wan faced a difficult task. Do they scuttle the film or charge ahead, using rewrites and body doubles to finish Walker’s performance? They ultimately went with the latter option but refused to go into any details. Now, a new report confirms that a digitally recreated Walker appears in the film and that he was brought to life by the same company that made Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and Caesar in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
Liam Neeson Says He’s Ready to Quit Action Movies
With Taken, Liam Neeson became an unlikely action star, with his quiet, solemn masculinity lending gravitas to even the silliest dialogue and story beats. But rather than use the success of that instantly meme-able film as an excuse to pursue more period dramas and British weepies, Neeson embraced his newfound action hero identity. Now, after seven years of snapping necks and gunning people down across several continents, it looks like he’s ready to retire from the action hero game for good.
New ‘Fast and Furious 7’ Video Reveals How They Pulled Off That Insane Plane Stunt
The stunts in the Fast and Furious franchise have grown increasingly ridiculous over the years, with the heroes (and their cars) defying the laws of physics at every turn. While it’s obvious that the more ludicrous action scenes are created with the help of CGI, a new behind-the-scenes featurette has revealed that one of the most insane scenes from the Fast and Furious 7 trailer is real. Yes, they really did drop a fleet of parachute-equipped muscle cars out of an airplane.
Celebrate Chuck Norris’ 75th Birthday With This Video of Him Kicking Everything
Long before he was an internet meme, Chuck Norris was a genuinely skilled martial artist whose ass-kicking abilities were put on display in dozens of action movies. Running the gamut from massively entertaining (The Delta Force) to totally baffling (The Octagon), Norris’ films all have one thing in common: each one sees him kicking a whole bunch of people. So, in honor of the man’s 75th birthday, let’s all take a moment to enjoy a video supercut of Norris kicking people and things.
‘Avengers 2’ Trailer Breaks All-Time Record With 35 Million Views
If you’re like us, you’ve already watched the new trailer for Avengers 2 a dozen (or a hundred) times, breaking it down by shot-by-shot and creating gifs and everything. Well, it turns out that we are not alone in our borderline psychotic anticipation for Marvel’s next epic team-up movie. The trailer has shattered records, garnering more views in 24 hours than any other trailer in internet history.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Chappie’ Leads a Slow Weekend
With some of the year’s biggest movies only a month or two away, the box office seems to have entered a holding pattern. Some of the new releases are minor hits. Others crash and burn. Right now, Hollywood just seems to be crossing their fingers and hoping for the sweet, sweet summer movie season to come along and save them (or at least the April release of Furious 7). In other words, every new release underperformed this weekend.
Joss Whedon Says Making ‘Avengers 2’ Was a ‘Nightmare’
Making any movie is difficult, but making the sequel to one of the most popular movies of all time? That’s downright Herculean and Joss Whedon refuses to play the modesty game with it comes to Avengers 2. Describing the film as a “nightmare” and the “hardest juggling act he has ever, ever tried to pull off,” the beloved writer/director pulled no punches in talking about the difficult creative decisions that went into making the movie.
‘Avengers 2’ Ending Will Be ‘Completely Unhinged’ Says Joss Whedon
When The Avengers arrived in 2012, the massive final battle between Earth’s mightiest heroes and Loki’s alien army ended up being much bigger and more exciting than the trailers suggested. From the sound of things, we may be in for a similar treat with Avengers 2. In a new interview, writer/director Joss Whedon discussed many aspects of the upcoming sequel, but it’s his comments about the Avengers 2 ending that should get you the most interested.
‘Ghostbusters 3’ Can Still Happen, According to Dan Aykroyd
When it was revealed that director Paul Feig was going to reboot Ghostbusters with an all-female cast, the general assumption was that Ghostbusters 3 was dead and buried. Gone forever. Kaput. Never to be mentioned again. But, Dan Aykroyd never got that memo. Aykroyd, who co-wrote and starred in the original films, has spent years talking up Ghostbusters 3 and he’s not going to let silly little things like an actual, official, studio-sanctioned remake with a cast and release date get in the way.
Ryan Reynolds Teases His ‘Deadpool’ Costume
Ryan Reynolds has been trying to get a proper ‘Deadpool’ movie off the ground ever since he helped botch the character in the deplorable ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine.’ Yeah, he says he has a genuine affinity for the character, but he also has to appease the ever-fickle movie gods, who punished him for his earlier comic book movie transgressions by putting him in ‘Green Lantern.’ Making a ‘Deadpool’ movie is how he restores order to the universe. Anyway, Reynolds took to Twitter to share our first glimpse of the Merc With a Mouth’s costume and even in this early state, it’s a significant improvement over the previous big screen version of the character.