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From before it opened, Universal has wanted to make a franchise out of Snow White and the Huntsman. Whether it was the star power of Twilight's Kristen Stewart and Academy Award–winner Charlize Theron and the growing stardom of The Avengers' Chris Hemsworth, or the expanded fairy tale universe created by director Rupert Sanders, the studio has sniffed sequels. As early as last July, producer Joe Roth admitted that Snow White and the Huntsman was being planned as the "first in a series of films," yet, prior to its June 1 opening, Universal was reportedly preparing for a potential lackluster performance at the box office, with tracking well below the studio's hopes, especially after bombing out with board game movie Battleship.
When Snow White and the Huntsman opened at the top of the box office last weekend, earning $56.3 million, Universal had to breathe a sigh of relief. Now, with the movie currently at $118 million worldwide, the studio is moving forward with a sequel.
more about the sequel >> Posted 06.08.12 by Ryan -
Twentieth Century Fox likely surprised itself last summer by creating not one but two prequel franchises. Considering the popularity of the X-Men franchise, the studio probably expected that X-Men: First Class would perform well enough to illicit a sequel (the studio backed a pretty extensive marketing campaign in hopes). However, the studio probably didn't expect Planet of the Apes prequel Rise of the Planet of the Apes to earn $481 million worldwide. Unsurprisingly, Fox CEO Tom Rothman announced sequels last November and the studio is pressing forward, scheduling both sequels for summer 2014.
There's still little known about the Rise sequel, other than it will continue seeing humanity fall as the apes, well, rise. Director Rupert Wyatt, who is returning, said last December that the sequel will show "why humanity is going to be vulnerable enough for this ever growing army of intelligent apes and their offspring to be able to take us on." According to Box Office Mojo, the sequel will be titled Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (don't worry, we're pretty sure it won't feature zombie-apes) and will open on May 23, 2014.
more about Thor 2 and the First Class sequel >> Posted 06.01.12 by Ryan -
For anyone that's seen the trailers and TV spots for Universal's Snow White and the Huntsman, it's clear that the dark, action-driven movie isn't the typical adaptation of the Snow White fairytale. If the most recent trailer, released in March, left viewers with any questions, the studio has released a new, interactive version of the trailer via Yahoo!, which provides plot details and behind-the-scenes information about the movie.
Some of the information might seem extraneous; other bits are pretty interesting — that Charlize Theron was cast before Kristen Stewart, that Stewart had to endure swimming in a sewer set with dozens of live rats for an escape sequence. The trailer also includes more about the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) and the eight (remember what we said about this not being a typical adaptation?) dwarfs in the movie.
watch the interactive trailer >> Posted 05.22.12 by Ryan -
After causing trouble as the primary antagonist in both Thor and The Avengers, Marvel president Kevin Feige has said that Loki (Tom Hiddleston) won't be the primary villain in Thor 2. "You can’t do a Thor movie without Loki," he said last month. but Thor will be tackling "another big villain" in the sequel.
That doesn't mean that the brothers won't continue the contentious relationship from Thor, The Avengers, and decades of comic book history. Hiddleston said last month that he hoped Thor 2 would answer the questions of whether "Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and Thor [can] find forgiveness for Loki in their own hearts" and whether "Loki [can] accept that forgiveness." Apparently, Chris Hemsworth agrees.
more on Thor and Loki's relationship >> Posted 05.18.12 by Ryan -
With The Hunger Games and The Avengers already finding tremendous success this year, it's anybody's guess who the next box office phenomena will be. Universal is hoping it will be Snow White and the Huntsman, the second live-action adaptation of the classic fairytale to open this year. Far grittier and more fantastical than Relativity Media's Mirror, Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsman boasts a cast that includes Twilight actress Kristen Stewart and Avengers co-star Chris Hemsworth in the movie's title roles.
The first preview clip from Snow White and the Huntsman showed how the movie would differ from the fairytale as it revealed both characters on the run from a giant troll, which Snow White is able to tame without resorting to much violence. With several new preview clips arriving online, the more action-oriented elements of the story are being highlighted, especially in a clip where Snow White confronts the evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) while the Huntsman and Prince William (Sam Claflin, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) fight off magical guards Ravenna has created from shards of her castle's ceiling.
watch the clips >> Posted 05.14.12 by Ryan -
If you missed Kristen Stewart's recent appearance on NBC's The Tonight Show, then you didn't get to see her explain away her swagger as the result of an injury sustained filming re-shoots for Breaking Dawn: Part 2, catch her brief cameo appearance in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, or see the new preview clip from Snow White and the Huntsman (SWATH) that she shared with Jay. We can't help you out with her "ultimate swag" and we don't even want to bother trying to share with you the split-second scene from The Flintstones in which 10-year-old Stewart tosses rings, but we do have the preview clip from SWATH for your viewing pleasure.
The scene in the preview clip appears to take place after the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) decides that he doesn't want to kill Snow White (Stewart) for the evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron) as the pair are pretty chummy when they come across a grisly creature only identified as a "troll." Of course, in this version of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, Snow White is anything but a damsel in distress, so she's the one who does the saving while the Huntsman rolls around in the mud.
watch the preview clip >> Posted 05.08.12 by BrentJS -
If you weren't one of the die-hard fans who helped The Avengers set the new midnight screening box office record for a superhero movie — raking in $18.7 million to narrowly defeat the previous record holder, The Dark Knight, which took in $18.5 million during its midnight screening back in 2008 — and you didn't see it last night, then you might want to turn back now because we've got the dirt on the post-post-credits scene. [Oh, and if you're going to see The Avengers for the first time today or tomorrow, be sure to stick around until the very, very end of the credits to see what we're talking about and then come back to read what it was all about.]
get the dirt [SPOILER ALERT] >> Posted 05.05.12 by BrentJS -
With Aussie hunk Chris Hemsworth currently starring in the international (and soon to be domestic) smash hit The Avengers, it's no wonder that Universal has made him the subject of the latest behind-the-scenes preview clip from Snow White and the Huntsman. Introduced by Snow White herself, Twilight star Kristen Stewart, with additional commentary from Hemsworth, the clip shows that the Huntsman begins the movie as more of a drunken mess than a badass warrior.
Additionally, three new character posters have been released online via the official Facebook page for Snow White and the Huntsman, one featuring Snow White (Stewart), one featuring the Huntsman (Hemsworth), and one featuring the evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron).
watch the clip & gander at the posters >> Posted 05.03.12 by BrentJS -
Marvel's The Avengers is already a hit overseas, and isn't going to stop anytime soon. THR reports that the comic book movie adaptation could gross anywhere from $500 to $600 million after its US release this weekend, thereby outpacing all of its previous, individual superhero movies.
With new TV spots arriving on almost a daily basis, the latest is a slightly altered version of a previous spot. Even so, we're not afraid to admit that we're not tiring of watching Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and (especially) the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) tackle Loki's (Tom Hiddleston) army in the movie's promotional footage.
watch the TV spot >> Posted 05.02.12 by Ryan -
Fans are arriving en masse to see "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" assemble in The Avengers — at least, overseas. The movie is already setting records, a trend sure to continue this weekend as it expands to 42 additional foreign markets.
For American audiences, who still have to wait a week, at least there are more character posters released by Mondo, the collectible art arm of Austin's Alamo Drafthouse). Last week, two retro posters of Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) were revealed, and MTV has discovered the posters of the other four members — Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Dr. Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) — posted at various sites all over the Internet.
see the posters; Feige talks humor and villains >> Posted 04.26.12 by Ryan