ScreenCrave.com » thor

‘Thor 2′ Villain Will Be Played By Mads Mikkelsen Of ‘Casino Royale’

Bronwen Winter Phoenix — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:34:24 +0000

Marvel Studios are on a roll, having already cast not one, but three different villains for Iron Man 3 – and now they’ve announced Casino Royale baddie Mads Mikkelsen will be playing an as-yet unknown villain in Thor 2. However, fans will be happy to know Tom Hiddleston will also be back as Loki, and is said to still have a big part as the sequel’s antagonist – and there willll be plenty of tension to look forward to back at Asgard.

Mikkelsen starred as the blood-crying villain Le Chiffre alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond in the film Casino Royale, and his solid acting skills should make him a challenging adversary to the mighty Thor. Fans will also be excited to hear that Idris Elba has already confirmed that he will return as Asgard’s gatekeeper Heimdall – maybe he’ll get more involved with the action in the sequel?

As of yet, it’s not been announced which villain Mikkelsen will be playing, but fans could already be guessing at some of the possible clues… such as Mikkelsen’s Danish background, or the fact that Loki is still involved.

It seems 2013/14 is shaping up well for Marvel Studios, after struggling to keep up with their plan of two theatrical releases per year. Delays with Thor and The Avengers saw Iron Man 2 released by itself in 2010, and this year The Avengers is without a partner since Runaways was indefinitely postponed. Now it seems they’re back to two films in a year, or perhaps even more

Thor 2 is set to star Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Mads Mikkelsen, Josh Dallas and Anthony Hopkins. Production starts this summer with a November 15th, 2013 release planned.

Are you already excited about Thor 2?

Source: FirstShowing

Joss Whedon Wants To Add More Female Superheroes To ‘The Avengers 2′

Travis Woods — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:06:59 +0000

Between such works as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse, Joss Whedon is known for featuring strong female characters in his TV shows and films. And while The Avengers did have Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow kicking ass and helping to save the world, the film was still a festival of testosterone between Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, and pointless archer that gives Jeremy Renner something to do. Now, Whedon says he wants to up the female hero quotient in Avengers 2.

In a recent roundtable interview with Entertainment Weekly, in which the Avengers cast and Whedon spoke about the film, Whedon stated that powerful women was something that The Avengers lacked:

Whedon joked, “I think we need to get some more men on the team,” while Thor’s Chris Hemsworth looked around Johansson at Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, and Samuel L. Jackson and agreed, “Yes, there are too few of us.”

Whedon went on to say that studios will argue that “a woman cannot headline an action movie,” but that “after The Hunger Games they might stop telling you that a little bit. Whatever you think of the movie, it’s done a great service. And after The Avengers, I think it’s changing.”

While Whedon’s aim is an admirable one, the problem now is to find a way to organically introduce new female superheroes into a franchise that is already overstuffed with major characters. Further, which Marvel female heroes make the cut? Wasp, She-Hulk, Scarlet Witch? And how do they get introduced into the Marvel franchise? Via Captain America 2, Iron Man 3, or Thor 2? However they appear, Avengers 2 might have to lose a major hero or two to make room for some new blood, as this franchise is starting to get rather crowded.

What do you think of Whedon’s Avengers 2 plan (assuming he’s given the nod to direct)?

Source: /Film

‘The Avengers’ Smashes $1 Billion Mark In Under 20 Days

Travis Woods — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:04:31 +0000

We get it, The Avengers—people like you. People like you a lot. But $1 billion in global box office receipts in 19 days? Now you’re just showing off, Tony Stark-style. Turns out people really, really want to see four superheroes (plus one athletic super-spy and one pointless dude with a bow and arrow) beat the hell out of New York City.

That’s right—by Monday’s end (the 19^th day of the film’s release), The Avengers will have raked in $1 billion dollars in box office totals. The Avengers will be the fifth Disney film and first Marvel film to cross into that mega level.

The film also busted another record this weekend—The Avengers is now officially the first film to take in over $100 million domestically for its second weekend in a row. And, as you’ll recall, the film also busted records for its opening weekend by pulling in $207.4 million. The Avengers was produced with a budget of $220 million.

The super-hero team-up film has now passed The Dark Knight’s spot on the top grossing films list to claim the number 11 spot on the worldwide grosser list. And, of course and unsurprisingly, all of this means that there will definitely be an Avengers 2, which Disney officially greenlit last week. And probably an Avengers 3, 4, 5 and 6. And a Hulk movie. And maybe an Iron Man 4, with or without Robert Downey, Jr. At this point, the franchise may be self sustaining and self-aware at this point, and will probably rise up and strike us all down if we try to pull the plug (I might be mixing up this news with the Terminator 2 plot, I’m not sure).

Have you seen The Avengers yet?

Source: ComingSoon

Disney Officially Announces ‘The Avengers 2′ (Of Course)

Bronwen Winter Phoenix — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:32:31 +0000

After The Avengers hit us with a massive $207 million opening weekend (grossing a worldwide $700 million), it should be no surprise that Disney/Marvel has officially announced the obvious; a sequel is on the way. Of course, we already knew a sequel would be on the way (Marvel rarely stops at just one, and its stars are all signed to multi-film contracts); this is simply the assurance of what we all knew would be happening.

According to Deadline, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced in an earnings call that “the company is developing a sequel.” Iger has apparently already gushed that the movie’s success is “a great illustration of why we like Marvel so much.” And that’s not all – there are more sequels on the way, with Iron Man 3, Captain America 2 and Thor 2 already announced – with maybe even an Ant-Man film in store (we’ll have to wait and see about that).

The Avengers raked in $18.7 million in midnight screenings alone from approximately 2,500 theaters which played the film in both 2D and digital 3D, as well as the 273 IMAX 3D theaters.

Marvel fans everywhere flocked to cinemas to see the story that finds Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) of S.H.I.E.L.D forming a super team of heroes called “The Avengers,” who try to save the Earth from Loki and his alien army. Fury and his team battle to save the Earth from disaster, and with a story like that, how could it possibly miss? Well, as you know, it didn’t.

The Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Paul Bettany, and was directed by Joss Whedon. No word yet on who will be returning and who won’t (you can bet Downey, Evans, Ruffalo and Hemsworth will be there); Whedon currently has an option to direct, but there’s been no official word yet on that front.

Are you already looking forward to The Avengers 2?

Source: FirstShowing

Joss Whedon Promises 30 Minutes Of New Footage For Three-Hour ‘Avengers’ Blu-Ray

Travis Woods — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:19:00 +0000

If the box office is any indication (and it is), a lot of you enjoyed The Avengers this weekend. And even though the record-breaking superhero film is already 2.5 hours long, fans are already clamoring for more. While it’s a bit early for sequel news, director Joss Whedon is promising a three-hour director’s cut of The Avengers with 30 minutes of new footage… for the film’s Blu-Ray release.

The Avengers surprised everyone last weekend—while everyone expected big, respectable numbers, the film’s $200 ravaging of the box office was certainly a shocker. But the film’s getting (mostly) excellent press, Whedon’s an always-reliable writer-director, and hey, let’s face it: this is a movie that features Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and the Hulk fighting each other and a bevy of aliens throughout New York City. What more do you want?

Well, apparently, if you more footage, character beats, and Captain America, you’re in luck—The Avengers Blu-Ray will feature Whedon’s director’s cut, which adds 30 minutes to the 2 hour and 22 minute theatrical cut. Most of the new footage apparently concerns Captain America, whose pathos at being shuffled into the 21^st Century was mostly put aside in order for him to look ridiculous in that suit and for some shield throwing.

It will be nice to see some extra character beats in the film to even out the sense of spectacle, even if they do concern Cap, who happens to be one of the blander characters of the Avengers film franchise. But at this point, one gets the sense fans will take whatever they can get. Look for an Avengers Blu-Ray around the holiday season.

Will you be picking up The Avengers Blu-Ray?

Source: Cinema Blend

‘The Avengers’ Scores $18.7 Million In Midnight Screening Ticket Sales

Travis Woods — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:54:36 +0000

Not that it’s any surprise, but in case you were curious, The Avengers took in nearly $20 million from midnight showings on Thursday night, entering a pantheon of memorable blockbuster films that set records for their midnight-premiere screenings: The Dark Knight, The Hunger Games and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.

The team up between Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, and two people in leather that no one cares about (Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner) earned a reported $18.7 million in midnight screenings from approximately 2,500 theaters that played the film in both 2D and digital 3D, as well as the 273 IMAX 3D theaters.

Some context: Earlier this year, The Hunger Games scored $19.7 million during its midnight release, while The Dark Knight came through with $18.5 million (which set the record for a superhero movie, until The Avengers came out swinging).

To take that further, The Dark Knight grossed $158.4 million in its first weekend out, while The Hunger Games netted $152.5 in its first weekend. Knight held the record until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows – Part 1 waved its magic wand and took the top spot with $169 million. What does it all mean? Our own Damon Houx speculates that Avengers will certainly clear $150 million by Sunday night, and will probably end up with approximately $165 million.

That’s not quite the record breaker, but don’t feel bad for The Avengers—internationally, the film has already raked in $304 million in ticket sales. I think it’ll be OK.

Did you see The Avengers at midnight?

Source: Coming Soon

New ‘Avengers’ Clip Features Black Widow Hiring The Hulk

Travis Woods — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:43:17 +0000

We’re just under two weeks until the official release of The Avengers, one of the most anticipated films of 2012. The Joss Whedon-directed superhero film features such Marvel hotshots as Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye teaming up to defend Earth from the threat posed by Thor’s villainous brother, Loki. And in a new clip from the film, you can see how Black Widow draws a cranky Bruce Banner/Hulk into the Avengers.

The clip finds Black Widow being sent by Nick Fury (Sam Jackson) to recruit scientist Bruce Banner into the Avengers in order to use his expertise on Gamma radiation to track an item leaking minute traces of Gamma rays. She makes it clear that the group is not looking to use Banner’s Hulk abilities, something that Banner wants to put to the test.

It’s an interesting clip for two reasons—as we’ve seen from the trailers, the Hulk definitely makes a violent appearance or two in the film, meaning that either Banner accidentally loses his temper, or that Black Widow and Fury were manipulating him to use his Hulk abilities after all. The other reason: perhaps it’s just us, but Scarlett Johansson’s acting is so wooden in the scene, it’s almost as if Mark Ruffalo himself isn’t even there, and is as CGI’d as the Hulk itself.

The Avengers is set for official release on May 4.

What do you think of the clip?

Source: MovieWeb

Japanese ‘Avengers’ Trailer Reveals New Footage, New Villains, And New Base

Travis Woods — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:59:52 +0000

Back in February, we received a new Avengers trailer that featured a bevy of new footage containing the Hulk, Loki, and a ton of action, and it was, quite frankly, pretty exciting. But then Japan went and received a trailer with even more new footage, stealing all of our thunder with new shots of the film’s otherworldy villains, the SHIELD mobile base, and the Avengers’ jet.

While the trailer seems extraordinarily light on Hulk footage (something the February trailer had in abundance) you do get more of the villains in this trailer—it appears Loki is leading some kind of alien army against Earth. And while that seems a little bland for a group of villains, remember, this film is more about its heroes rather than its villains (think the first Iron Man film).

While an embed code is currently unavailable, you can check out the Japanese trailer for The Avengers at Yahoo! Movies Japan.

So, what did you think? Not bad, right? While the film still looks as if it could slip into Fantastic Four cheesiness, I’m growing more and more optimistic with each new peak at the film. We’ll all find out how well the film does when it’s released on May 4^th.

What do you think of the new Avengers trailer?

Source: JoBlo

New ‘Avengers’ Trailer Features More Action, More Villains And More Hulk

Travis Woods — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:17:00 +0000

After dropping an official poster on us on Tuesday, today Marvel has unloaded their newest The Avengers trailer, chock full of Robert Downey Jr-isms, dramatic music, more Hulk, more villains, and thankfully, very little of Cap America’s silly, decidedly un-cinematic uniform. Check out the full trailer below!

The newest trailer seems to be far more focused on the conflict between Avengers, featuring as it does a three-way battle between Iron Man, the Captain, and Thor, as well as what appears to be some friction between the Hulk and Black Widow, and Black Widow and Hawkeye. Also, we see a bit more of the film’s villainy, which includes Loki, as well as some kind of steampunk flying caterpillar thing at the very end. And yes, “steampunk flying caterpillar thing” is my official name for that object until further notice.

So, what did you think? The trailer features far more action than the last one, as well as the inclusion of the “we’ll have to overcome our differences and learn to work as one to beat this thing” theme that was always a hallmark of the Avengers comics. It still looks like it could slip off into Fantastic Four schlock, but for now, we’re cautiously optimistic about The Avengers.

Will you assemble for the film on May 4^th?

Source: /Film

Two New ‘Avengers’ Pictures Are Released; Captain America’s Suit Isn’t Getting Any Cooler

Travis Woods — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:38:17 +0000

Last month, we showed you five new pictures from The Avengers, featuring stars Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, and Scarlet Johansson looking at things very, very dramatically. They didn’t really indicate much in the way of plot (beyond the fact that the Avengers are going to, you know, assemble at some point), but hey, we at least got to see that Bruce Banner is going to dress in his classic purple and Downey Jr. still has that weirdly sculpted goatee. Now we have two new pics featuring the heroes—you guessed it—staring fixedly at things.

The first shot is above, featuring Captain America still in a suit that just does not translate onto film well at all (Chris Evans still looks like a little kid in an Evel Knievel suit, but what can you do? It’s the classic suit), flanked by Hawkeye and Black Widow as the trio walk and look generally ready for some kind of badassery.

The second picture (below), features Thor being all flexed and tense while looking at a screen with Clark Gregg’s Agent Coulsen.

Again, not much in the way of plot, but enough to keep the fans excited until Joss Whedon’s film is released on May 4^th.

What did you think of the new shots?

Thor 2 Gets New Writer

Damon Houx — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:21:05 +0000

After making nearly $450 worldwide, Thor was considered successful enough for Marvel to green-light a sequel. But since making that decision, they’ve had a lot of trouble keeping a team together. The latest add-on is screenwriter Robert Rodat (according to Deadline Hollywood), who is reworking the script for director Alan Taylor for Thor 2. The film has a proposed 2013 release date.

Taylor (best known for his work on Game of Thrones) came in to replace Patty Jenkins, who was the original choice to take over the franchise from Kenneth Branagh. When Jenkins left, Natalie Portman publicly complained about the director being let go, even though she’s contractually obligated to appear in the sequel. Rodat is coming in to rework the script originally written by Don Payne. Payne was one of the five credited writers to work on the first film, which suggests he gave the script its last pass. Rodat is best known for Saving Private Ryan, and hasn’t written anything (credited) for the big screen since 2000′s The Patriot.

If this sounds like a mess, it probably is one, but that doesn’t mean the film won’t turn out. If the first film got anything right it was the casting, and everyone is bound to come back, including Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston (if he survives The Avengers), Portman and more. If – however – The Avengers under-performs, expect this to be scuttled. The problem with the sequel is that they likely want to do the second film on a budget, and much of the universe of these movies is in outer space and involves heavy special effects.

Perhaps DVD and Blu-ray and rentals are strong on Thor, because Marvel needs that sort of support to continue with the franchise. Generally making twice as much as you cost is the measurement of a cinematic success, and by that metric the first film was a win. But as sequels often do the same or less business than the first film, Marvel must be a little nervous, especially after all this turnaround. We shall see.

What do you want out of Thor 2?

ScreenCrave’s Top 10 Worst Films and Trends of 2011

Damon Houx — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:08:48 +0000

With year-end worst of lists, it’s rarely fun to pick on films that are dead and buried. Is it really worth rehashing why I Am Number Four or Apollo 18 are bad movies? In five years no one’s going to remember those films, to say nothing of Shark Night or One Day. in fact it’s likely everyone’s forgotten them. What’s much more disappointing and terrible is cinematic good will squandered. And so here is our list of the ten worst films and trends in cinema in 2011:

10. The Artist (as an Oscar Contender)

There’s nothing all that wrong with Michel Hazanavicius’s The Artist as a film. A throwback, it attempts to recreate the look and feel of a silent movie with some laughs and some forced melodrama. But as an end of the year film that is now looking like the Best Picture winner to beat, it’s all wrong. The filmmakers don’t seem to really love silent movies and so the film works more as a homage to something they’ve never directly experienced than a period movie. Perhaps that’s the point, but a light soufflé such as this can’t stand the heavier implications of greatness. If it does go on to become one of the best pictures of the year it will join the class of films like Driving Miss Daisy or Crash as “things that seemed like a good idea at the time” or “what the heck were they thinking?” winners. And in a year as rich with cinematic treasures as 2011, that’s just sad.

9. Hall Pass

Bobby and Peter Farrelly have unleashed two terrible cinematic nuggets on us this year. The first would be the trailer for The Three Stooges, but more painfully (and much more feature length) would be Hall Pass. A film that seems to suggest that its filmmakers are on the verge of divorce, Hall Pass is neither unfunny or insightful. The Farrelly brothers had the perfect mixture of gross-out and heart in There’s Something about Mary, and have spent the last decade trying to reproduce the formula. At this point, they should stop.

8. Thor

Though most would argue that The Green Lantern is the lesser of the two, Thor – in some ways – stands in for all these recent films that function more as franchise empire-building than cinema. Routine and poorly staged, Thor falls apart by using one of the most boring conventions of big-budget cinema: the main character can’t use his superpowers for an hour of the film’s running time because it’s too expensive. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston are perfect casting, and there’s some beautiful sets, but the end result is a film that exists to get viewers to The Avengers, and there’s nothing so offensive as a film that functions as a trailer for the next one. If The Green Lantern has a saving grace, it’s that it doesn’t seem to inspire future projects as readily.

7. Faithful Adaptations

Speaking of, this year we’ve had films like Harry Potter and Breaking Dawn bifurcate their narratives to supposedly service fans, and we’re about to get David Fincher’s take on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, where the book was too successful for Fincher to strip it down to what worked and what doesn’t. We’re in a culture where fans are being spoon-fed adaptions. The end result – while none of these films are terrible in and of themselves – are movies that don’t so much function as films proper but either collections of scenes that add up to a translation of the books – or a cliff notes version – with no sense of pacing. There’s a great scene in the classic film The Bad and the Beautiful where a director tells the producer that you have to choose what are the most important scenes in a film, and it appears that none of these movies have had to make those decisions. And on top of that, it’s simply a craven way to milk more money out of a popular franchise.

6. Another Earth

Another Earth is an art-house film that was a Sundance triumph, and represents the worst sort of pretentious meandering drivel that often passes for deep. “What if there was a parallel Earth where maybe our alternate selves didn’t make the same mistakes?” Maybe you should learn better film-making skills and drop the philosophy 101 courses. It’s also a film that’s hit a lot of best of lists, but it’s painfully obvious narrative suggests that too often low and no budget films get passes for having ideas.

5. The Change-Up

Body swap comedies were the fad in the late 80’s (meaning it spawned about four films), and so perhaps the genre was due for a re-imagining, but the end result feels slapped together, and makes you feel sorry for Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Mann and Olivia Wilde for appearing in such an empty and mean-spirited comedy. Throw in some over the top feces humor, and CGI nudity, you get one of the least enjoyable comedies in since Hall Pass. There’s nothing so unfunny as an unfunny comedy, and with such talented performers, it’s a travesty.

4. Cowboys and Aliens

With such a talented cast, it’s impressive that Jon Favreau managed to lay such a goose egg. A non-western, Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford are wasted in what amounts to a chance for talented people to dress up like cowboys and waste money. The plot is terrible, but more offensively, there’s a good movie in there somewhere. This probably kills the chance for any reasonably budgeted western from the studios for the next three years. Thanks.

3. 3-D

Though 2010 took the cake for terrible 3-D post conversions (last minute jobs like The Last Airbender and Clash of the Titans), we still saw many of the summer’s biggest films in 3-D for little reason other than a ticket price bump. There’s nothing wrong with the format per se, but after a year of bad 3-D in such films as Thor, Fright Night, Conan the Barbarian, Pirates 4, the Greens (Hornet and Lantern) it’s something that needs to be done by people who are paying attention (like Martin Scorsese or – god help us – Michael Bay), and not slapped on to increase ticket sales. As we’ve seen, it often doesn’t help.

2. J. Edgar

With the recent SAG nominations it’s quite possible that J. Edgar will be an awards contender, even though the film died at the box office. There may be a critical divide on this film, as some have noted those over 40 seem to enjoy the film more. But if we are to accept the argument that Clint Eastwood is a truly great director (and the man has made at least two masterpieces), then this Wikipedia page summary of J. Edgar Hoover’s life and times deserves to be lambasted as a terrible work. Bad old age make-up aside, the film never feels like it has a spine so much a collection of J. Edgar’s greatest hits assembled in a way where sum is much less than the parts. Naomi Watts, Leonardo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer waste themselves in a film that seems to have been made simply as Oscar bait.

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

One of the laziest and least imaginatively staged blockbusters of all time, On Stranger Tides is half baked every step of the way, from its nonsensical plotting to barely awake performances from Johnny Depp. Directed – terribly at that – by Rob Marshall, it was the least successful of the series domestically, and yet crossed a billion dollars worldwide. Which means we’re getting more. What makes this the worst movie of the year is that everyone involved knew they could half-ass it and still make money. And there is nothing so offensive as successful people making crap simply because they know they can get away with it.

What did you like the least about the past year in film?

ScreenCrave.com » thor

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ScreenCrave’s Top 10 Worst Films and Trends of 2011

10. The Artist (as an Oscar Contender)

9. Hall Pass

8. Thor

7. Faithful Adaptations

6. Another Earth

5. The Change-Up

4. Cowboys and Aliens

3. 3-D

2. J. Edgar

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

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