Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Has Screened, Here Are The Early Reactions

Godzilla: King Of The Monsters Has Screened, Here Are The Early Reactions

The summer movie season is officially here! Avengers: Endgame set one hell of a precedent, but there's no small amount of movies willing to rise up to take the crown for themselves. Working perfectly with my metaphor, one of those movies is Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which will see a titanic showdown between Godzilla and his arch-nemesis, King Ghidorah. Fans have eagerly been awaiting some kaiju mayhem and it sounds like they are getting their wish.

Early reactions for Godzilla: King of the Monsters are hitting the web and the verdict is almost unanimous: this movie rules. I'll let CinemaBlend's own official Twitter account speak for itself as we throw plenty of praise at the film's action.

It seems like most critics are in agreement over the sequel. If you are looking for non-stop, over-the-top, monster-fighting action, then King of the Monsters is exactly what you are looking for. With Godzilla, Ghidorah, Rodan, and Mothra, the movie has plenty of action to spare, according to Erik Davis from Fandango.

Those who were left disappointed by 2014's Godzilla will find plenty to love in the sequel. Fans and critics weren't too fond of Godzilla's first outing as there wasn't quite as much monster fighting as expected. The monsters are definitely the stars of the show here, says Andre Meadows of Black Nerd Comedy.

Meadows went on to say that the movie is so full of easter eggs that it's easy to tell the movie was made by people who love Godzilla.

King of the Monsters will have plenty of action, but the film also has a real respect for the Titans (what kaiju are called in the film). According to Paul Shirey from JoBlo, the sequel has a real passion for the Titans and there's no question they are the stars of the show.

Based on the critical reaction, King of the Monsters is exactly what you want from a summer blockbuster. It's loud, ambitious, and blows you away with action on an epic scale. Director Michael Dougherty brought his A-game for this one. With King of the Monsters currently projected to gross more than $50 million opening weekend, this could be one of the summer's most memorable flicks.

Thankfully, we don't have too much longer to wait until Godzilla: King of the Monsters stomps into theaters. The epic sequel arrives on May 31. To learn as much as you can about Godzilla and all his frenemies before then, here's what we know so far.

However, there's a lot more to look forward to this summer. You might be catching Detective Pikachu this weekend, but here's everything else that should be on your radar in our movie release guide. For more movie news, keep it right here at CinemaBlend.

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Ralph Fiennes Almost Turned Down Playing Voldemort In Harry Potter

Ralph Fiennes Almost Turned Down Playing Voldemort In Harry Potter

There are certain film villains who are on the upper echelon in terms of being iconic and beloved by moviegoers. Darth Vader is the big bad of space, while Lord Voldemort is a wizard in the Harry Potter franchise who characters fear to even speak of. So when it came to adapting the Dark Lord for the silver screen, Warner Bros. had the difficult task of finding an actor to play the snake-like scourge on the Wizarding World.

Ultimately the great Ralph Fiennes played Lord Voldemort, playing the character for a whopping five Harry Potter movies. Fiennes' performance was layered and super creepy, but it turns out that the Schindler's List actor originally didn't want to take the role of he who must not be named. He recently explained this, and how his family helped him change his mind. As he tells it,

The truth is I was actually ignorant about the films and the books. I was approached by the production. Mike Newell was directing the film that they wanted me to be in… the first time Voldemort was going to appear physically. Out of ignorance I just sort of thought, this isn’t for me… Quite stupidly I resisted, I was hesitant. I think the clincher was that my sister Martha – who has three children who were then probably about 12, 10 and 8 – she said, 'What do you mean? You’ve got to do it!' So then I rewound my thinking.

It looks like we all owe Ralph Fiennes nieces and nephews a big thank you. While he was originally hesitant to join the massive Harry Potter franchise, the younger members of his family were able to convince him otherwise. Because if you can play the villain of the beloved novels and movies, why would you turn it down?

Ralph Fiennes' comments from The Jonathan Ross Show (via Digital Spy) are sure to baffle Harry Potter fans, who have grown to love his performance as Voldemort. Fiennes was completely transformed into the dark wizard, with prosthesis forming his snakelike appearance, while the actor adjusted his voice and posture to fully inhabit Voldemort. As such, it's impossible to think of anyone else playing the adult form of Tom Riddle.

Ralph Fiennes had previously spoke to his trepidation about playing Voldemort. The actor reportedly wasn't a fan of the first two Harry Potter movies, which were directed by Chris Columbus. The franchise took a more adult turn when Fiennes eventually popped up in The Goblet of Fire, which may have been what the actor was hoping for-- especially when playing the most evil Wizard ever.

It should be interesting to see if Voldemort becomes part of the Fantastic Beasts franchise. There are still three more movies on the way, as the timeline gets closer to the one explored in the Harry Potter franchise. Voldemort visited Grindelwald in prison in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1, so they've clearly got some type of a relationship. Could Ralph Fiennes end up popping up again as you know who? Fingers crossed.

Ralph Fiennes is currently filming Kingsman: The Great Game, and is expected to reprise his role as M in Bond 25. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

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Sounds Like Sylvester Stallone Might Not Be Done With Rocky After All

Sounds Like Sylvester Stallone Might Not Be Done With Rocky After All

Sylvester Stallone seemed to retire as Rocky after Creed II, but maybe he's already rethinking that idea. Sly is at Cannes promoting Rambo V: Last Blood, and talking about his career to date. The conversation turned to Rocky Balboa, and it was noted that Stallone had said he had no immediate plans to continue with Creed. Why not? Well, that's apparently when he dropped this new idea:

I have a great idea for Rocky. He finds this fella in the country illegally and it becomes a whole thing. It’s like the magician who lost his tricks. You’ve seen everything, but what can be different? Throw him out of the country, he’s in another world.

I can't say I follow exactly where he's going with that, but if Sylvester Stallone says he has another great idea in him for Rocky, hop to it. It worked well for at least two Creed spinoff-sequels, and maybe even a third with or without Rocky. It's possible his comments to the audience, during a career retrospective talk with Didier Allouch (via Deadline), suggested a new fighter for Rocky to train in a new spinoff. No idea, but it's something to keep an eye on if Stallone wasn't just riffing and he really meant it.

Sylvester Stallone also compared the very different heroes of his two R franchises:

Rambo deals with the dark side of nature that most people live with. Rocky is different, he’s more the optimist, there’s optimism and pessimism in these two characters.

Sylvester Stallone's Rambo V: Last Blood title suggests an ending for that franchise too, but you never know. He may come up with a new idea after that movie comes out this September.

Sly already has a 40 Years Of Rocky documentary coming out, so Rocky is still very much in the spotlight after all of these years. Stallone is even still meeting new Rocky fans -- some as young as 9 -- so the franchise still has some life in it, as long as Sly has more stories to tell. But if Creed II really was the end of Rocky's story, well that's a fine ending as well. It just sounds like Sly isn't quite sure he's done.

Sylvester Stallone has a lot going on beyond Rocky and Rambo, including whatever is happening with The Expendables 4, plus his idea for where Cobra could go next. He even took time recently to weigh in on the new plans for Cliffhanger. And he also has Escape Plan: The Extractors coming to Digital/DVD/Blu-ray on July 2.

Rambo 5 opens in theaters September 20. Stay tuned for any Rocky updates if the thoughts pass from Sylvester Stallone's mind onto actual paper for a script.

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Julianne Moore Was Fired From Can You Ever Forgive Me And It's Still 'Painful'

Julianne Moore Was Fired From Can You Ever Forgive Me And It's Still 'Painful'

Oh, sweet rejection! We’ve all faced it at one point in our lives, and actors are certainly no stranger to it in the cutthroat business of Hollywood. Even with the status and acclaim Oscar winner Julianne Moore has achieved in her over 30 years as an actress, she is not untouchable to it either.

During a recent visit to What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Julianne Moore was asked why she left the film Can You Ever Forgive Me? which was a buzzy award season title. Here’s her blunt response:

I didn’t leave that movie, I was fired. Yeah, yeah, Nicole [Holofcener] fired me. ... I think she didn’t like what I was doing. We hadn't [started filming yet], we'd just been rehearsing and pre-production and stuff. And I think that her idea of where the character was was different than my idea of where the character was, and so she fired me. I haven't [seen the movie] yet, because it's still kind of painful. I love Melissa McCarthy, I worship her, I think she's fantastic, so I'm sure she's great.

Wow! It’s hard to wrap our heads around such a phenomenal actress being fired from a role. However, every director has a vision, and if the way Julianne Moore played the part didn’t match up with that, it certainly happens! Melissa McCarthy was later cast instead in the true story of best-selling biographer Lee Israel, who decides to forge letters from famous deceased authors and playwrights.

Julianne Moore admitted that she took the firing pretty hard, continuing with these words:

The only other time I was fired was when I was working at a yogurt stand when I was 15. So, yeah it felt bad.

The 58-year-old actress has been enjoying over 40 years without career rejection (after already nabbing a role anyway), so her pain surrounding the situation is understandable. That’s without mentioning the high praise the movie received throughout award season.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? also earned three nominations at the Oscars, including a Best Actress nod for Melissa McCarthy (in Moore’s former role), Richard E. Grant for Best Supporting Actor, and a nod for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Julianne Moore signed on to the project back in 2015 when the screenplay writer, Nicole Holofcener, was also going to direct the film as well. Soon after Moore was fired, Marielle Heller took Holofcener’s place as director and Melissa McCarthy was cast. Chris O’Dowd was also previously attached to play Richard E. Grant’s role of Jack Hook; here’s what O'Dowd told the BBC in February about it:

What a heartbreak… We were ready to go, it was myself and Julianne Moore, and we had moved to New York, and maybe two days before we started filming, there was some creative differences that I wasn't really involved in. I was surprised, that the film wasn't going ahead at the last minute.

At the end of the day, Chris O’Dowd feels like it was meant to be for Richard E. Grant, and thought he did a wonderful job, but does note “I would've preferred if it was me!” The actors above all else seemed bummed because it was a project they were excited to be a part of. McCarthy and Grant delivered some incredible performances and Moore and O’Dowd will certainly have more chances to dazzle on screen.

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The First Draft Of Avengers: Endgame Was Originally Very Different

The First Draft Of Avengers: Endgame Was Originally Very Different

Major spoilers ahead for Avengers: Endgame. Don't read on if you haven't seen it!

After a long year of waiting, Avengers: Endgame finally hit theaters this past weekend. The 22nd Marvel blockbuster has been breaking records left and right at the box office, and packed more surprises and plot twists than the rabid fandom could have anticipated. Tons of narrative threads were wrapped up, and the OG members of The Avengers were given special care for some of their final outings in the MCU.

Avengers: Endgame obviously went through a few drafts, and it turns out that the contents of the massive blockbuster could have been quite different. Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely handled the script to both Infinity War and Endgame, and recently revealed some of the ways the story changed throughout its development. For instance, the heroes didn't originally travel back to The Avengers' Battle of New York, as McFeely explained:

In the first draft, we didn’t go back to the [original] Avengers movie. We went back to Asgard. But there’s a moment in the MCU, if you’re paying very close attention, where the Aether is there and the Tesseract is in the vault. In that iteration, we were interested in Tony going to Asgard. He had a stealth suit, so he was invisible, and he fought Heimdall, who could see him.

Avengers: Endgame's time heist is massive and extremely ambitious, as the Avengers revisit some of the MCU's most iconic moments. The biggest part of that mission is in the Battle of New York, as three of the Infinity Stones were in the city during that first epic battle. It's hard to imagine the heist going off without visiting New York, although Stephen McFeely revealed they were originally were going to leave The Avengers out of the travel itinerary. Luckily, the duo of writers ultimately changed their mind.

The Avengers has a very important role in the story in the heist, and features a ton of surprising cameos. In addition to being the place where the surviving heroes could accrue a variety of Infinity Stones, the flashback to New York featured appearances by Crossbones, and fellow Captain America: Winter Soldier characters Alexander Pierce and Agent Jasper Sitwell. None of this would have been possible if Endgame's writers decided to avoid The Battle of New York.

Related: Avengers: Endgame Fan Reportedly Hospitalized For Uncontrollable Sobbing

Heimdall related FOMO aside, it sounds like Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely made the right call regarding how the journey through time would function in the story. This isn't exclusive to the Battle of New York, as moments in the Thor and Guardian of the Galaxy franchises also became more important. Of course, there are many Idris Elba fans out there who would have loved to see Heimdall briefly return to the world of the living in Endgame.

In their same conversation with the New York Times, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely revealed the challenges of the time heist's other settings, and different iterations that were crafted. As the duo of writers said:

MARKUS: Thor had long scenes with Natalie Portman. And Morag [the planet where Peter Quill finds the Orb] was hugely complicated.

McFEELY: It was underwater! That was clever but it was just too big a set piece. What that didn’t do is allow for Thanos and his daughters to get on the trail at the right moment. So we went back to when Peter Quill was there. And we realized that when you can punch Quill in the face, it’s hilarious. I still think it’s hilarious.

Avengers: Endgame's time heist was not only tricky for the surviving heroes, but also for the writers who had to plan out the easter egg-filled act of the film. Figuring out just how the Avengers would travel back and acquire the Infinity Stones was a major task for Marcus and McFeely. While some of the teams had long sequences like the Battle of New York, Nebula and War Machine's acquisition of the Power Stone was hilariously easy. At least, until Thanos showed up and made a mess of things.

While the original version of Endgame featured a longer scene with Natalie Portman's Jane, it was ultimately Thor's mother Frigga who had the biggest impact during the Thor: The Dark World revisit. Instead, Jane was brought back through old footage of Portman, as the Oscar winning actress has left her Marvel role behind.

Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely's struggle with the Avengers: Endgame time heist was partly because they didn't want to pander to the audience or go over the top with fan service. Quite a few misguided plot devices were considered in this process, as the duo attempted to craft a time traveling story that left out the Battle of New York. As they put it:

MARKUS: There were entirely other trips taken. They went to the Triskelion at one point to get the [Tesseract], and then somebody was going to get into a car and drive to Doctor Strange’s house.

McFEELY: Just saying it out loud, it’s like, what are we doing?

MARKUS: It was when we were trying to avoid going to Avengers because it seemed pander-y.

If you thought that Avengers: Endgame was dizzying in theaters, imagine what it was like to create the complicated story. The writing process ultimately worked out quite well for Markus and McFeely, as their work is being universally celebrated by both critics and moviegoers alike. They somehow pulled off the impossible with Infinity War and Endgame, crating a pair of blockbusters that balanced action with character-driven plot.

Avengers: Endgame managed to largely keep its secrets, and Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely packed in endless surprises and long awaited payoffs throughout the Russo Brothers' massive final movie. It was the true finale of the Infinity Saga, and there's no telling what's coming next for the MCU.

Avengers: Endgame is in theaters now. Be sure to check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

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Hobbs & Shaw’s Dwayne Johnson Reveals What The Goal Was With Creating A Fast And Furious Spinoff

Hobbs & Shaw’s Dwayne Johnson Reveals What The Goal Was With Creating A Fast And Furious Spinoff

Since 2001, there have been eight Fast and Furious movies which have collectively grossed over $5 billion at the box office, thus becoming Universal’s most flourishing franchise to date. So when the series decided to branch out with its first ever spinoff Hobbs and Shaw starring heavy-weight action stars Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham coming this summer, the upcoming bags of cash coming the movie’s way isn’t tough to predict.

On Wednesday, Hobbs and Shaw came out to CinemaCon in Las Vegas to boast some new badass footage and brought together the pair of stars sharing the spotlight in the Fast and Furious spinoff. Dwayne Johnson said this about why this spinoff was decided upon:

Our goal here with the [spinoff] was to build out the Fast and Furious franchise, we wanted to create something that was special. We wanted to create something that had our own tapestry, our own feel, our own energy. But the bottom line was we wanted to make something that is fun. And when I say fun, like Fast and Furious movies are fun and this is FUN. We reached the top level of fun with the Fast and Furious movies. I’m talking about fun, good amen. That’s what we wanted to do.

A little fun never hurt a summer blockbuster, and Hobbs and Shaw looks like it has a ton of it. The upcoming spinoff plays off the scene-stealing chemistry Johnson’s Luke Hobbs and Statham’s Deckard Shaw, showed off in the Fast and Furious films. The unlikely pair team up this time around to take down a genetically-engineered superpowered and flamethrower-wielding villain named Brixton, played by Idris Elba.

Hobbs and Shaw seems to let go of the reality that once grounded in the Fast and Furious franchise, as the franchise has gone for bigger visual spectacles and stunts for fans to be in awe of. Elba’s superpowers mark a big chang, and so is a marketed scene that has Hobbs scaling down a skyscraper as Shaw sleekly goes down an elevator at the same time. So, Johnson’s emphasis on “FUN” doesn’t sound far off … the franchise is going bonkers in the best way and fans are going to eat it up.

The upcoming blockbuster isn’t the last of planned Fast and Furious spinoffs either. There is a female-led spinoff also in the works including a couple of the writers of Captain Marvel onboard, out of three overall planned spinoffs promised to Universal. Fast and the Furious 9 & 10 are also in the works for 2020 and 2021.

With Fast and Furious spinoffs on the way in addition to the main franchise, will audiences get franchise fatigue? Hobbs and Shaw certainly seems to be shaking up the series with a fresh take and not taking itself too seriously. The movie hits theaters on August 2, 2019.

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James Gunn Had A Really Good Time Writing The Suicide Squad

James Gunn Had A Really Good Time Writing The Suicide Squad

Within the span of eight months, James Gunn was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and then rehired onto the threeequel. During that span of time, he was selected by Warner Bros to write and direct The Suicide Squad, and even now that he’s back on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Gun will still be overseeing Task Force X’s next cinematic adventure.

While we’re still a ways from seeing James Gunn’s take on the Suicide Squad in the DC Extended Universe, apparently he didn’t suffer from writer’s block when penning the story, calling it one of his best writing experiences in a while. In Gunn’s words:

The Suicide Squad, it just instantly started flowing. I don’t think I’ve had as much fun writing a script since maybe Dawn of the Dead. That’s what this whole movie has been like.

Just so we’re all on the same page, the Dawn of the Dead remake came out in 2004, and James Gunn wrote the script the year prior. So The Suicide Squad marks the most fun he’s had writing a script in over a decade and a half! That ideally bodes well for The Suicide Squad’s quality, though understandably, Gunn did not provide any specifics on what to expect from the movie while speaking with Deadline.

While 2016’s Suicide Squad, which was written and directed by Fury’s David Ayer, was unquestionably a commercial success, making nearly $747 million worldwide, it didn’t fare well on the critical side of the spectrum. With Ayer initially stepping away from directing Suicide Squad 2 to helm Gotham City Sirens (he’s since kept busy with Bright, its upcoming sequel and The Tax Collector), that opened the door for a new creative mind to put their own stamp on the Suicide Squad mythology, a doorway which James Gunn stepped through once his time at Marvel Studios looked like it was done for good.

Although it was initially described as a g The Suicide Squad will have ties to its predecessor, as evidenced by the return of Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. That said, rather than being a traditional sequel, The Suicide Squad is being framed as more of a ‘relaunch,’ which undoubtedly allowed James Gunn more creative freedom.

One of the ways The Suicide Squad will distinguish itself is by featuring a lot of new faces. Idris Elba will play someone who’s not Deadshot, David Dastamalchian will play Polka-Dot Man and Daniela Melchior will play Ratcatcher, while John Cena is in talks to play Peacemaker. King Shark will also reportedly be a member of this new Suicide Squad, although Michael Rooker has denied that he will voice the character.

The Suicide Squad charges into theaters on August 5, 2021, and production is slated to begin this fall. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for updates on its progression, and don’t forget to look through our DC movies guide to learn what else the DCEU has coming up.

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