by: keaton marcus

“Thor 4” Handed to Natalie Portman? “Blade” Reboot Casting? “Top Gun: Maverick” and “It: Chapter 2” Trailers?

THE TRAILERS: FLYING HIGH WITH TOM CRUISE, SQUARING OFF WITH PENNYWISE, AND SOME terrible “CATS” footage

Ever wanted a reboot, or even a sequel to the 80’s hit film “Top Gun”? Well, the San Diego 2019 Comic-Con seemed to tend to fans’ desperate needs, releasing an official trailer to a long-awaited sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick” still starring Tom Cruise as the title character. The epic trailer shows Cruise in his default, bad-ass action mode, and it showcased Cruise’s training on how to fly an actual army jet. Forget the script, forget the crude storytelling, you will “feel the need, the need for speed” after seeing those exhilarating, dazzling flying sequences. Otherwise, in the supporting cast, the picture will star more talents such as Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, and even veteran Jon Hamm. The new sequel will also be helmed by filmmaker Joseph Kosinski, whose career is made up of reboot “Tron: Legacy” (55% “sour”), a Tom Cruise starring sci-fi flick, “Oblivion” (65% “sweet/sour”), and a true story about firemen dubbed “Only the Brave” (85% “sweet”).

Will it be a hit?: Depends. The original film managed to gross a massive 418.3M domestically with inflation, and globally, 831.9M with more than 20 years of inflation. Considering this, people may still be lining up to see Maverick fly a plane once again on the big screen, however, Kosinski’s biggest film was a disappointment with “Tron: Legacy”, which grossed 172M domestically and just over 400M worldwide on a 170M production budget. Tom Cruise, more bankable in the box office, had a recent action hit last year with “Mission: Impossible - Fallout” which earned 220.1M domestically, and 791.1M globally on a 178M cost. On a negative side, however, the actor tanked two years ago with reboot “The Mummy”, which grossed 409M worldwide on a budget nearing 200M. Nevertheless, our final prediction is hard to say, but we are looking at a 40-50M opening and a possible 150-200M production budget.

Will it be good?: Possibly, but not very likely. The original “Top Gun” film scored 60% “sweet/sour” on the Lemonradar, praising the very visual flying sequences, and the entertainment value, but noting the overwhelming cheese, and the laughable script. The picture also scored 55% “Rotten” on RottenTomatoes, and a mixed 50/100 on Metacritic. Tom Cruise’s latest film, already mentioned, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, scored an excellent 90% “sweet” with us, 97% “Certified Fresh” on RottenTomatoes, and a 86/100 on Metacritic. Recent action films include Jack Reacher (65% “sweet/sour”), Oblivion (65% “sweet/sour”), Live, Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow (85% “sweet”), Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (80% “sweet”) and The Mummy (27% “D-sour”). He’s had his highs and lows, but his biggest franchise, the Mission: Impossible series, has had three “sweet” films out of the six pictures total. Our final prediction is ranging from 50-70% on the Lemonradar.

Remember the hit book adaptation dubbed “It” two years ago, and how it trampled the box office, and had similar success with the critics, well the Comic-Con has just released a brilliant final trailer. Months before, the teaser trailer was released, and we already knew that we were in for more gory scares. The new footage still depicts the Losers, as adults, returning to Derry 27 years after they faced off with evil clown Pennywise. The film stars James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain and Bill Hader, but will it be a success? The music, narration by good ol’ Pennywise, and the sheer scope look masterful, even better than its predecessor, and faithful enough to the classic, 1,166 paged novel. There were problems with the first movie, but overall, it was good enough for another solid sequel, still, the studio should be looking more for box office success than critical success.

Will it be a hit? Very likely, but still not confirmed. The original picture, as mentioned surprised in the box office, and finished with a massive 327.4M in North America, and 700.3M globally on a production budget of just 35 million dollars. It’s not only impressive, it’s also incredible for an R-rated horror picture, but it’s Stephen King. It: Chapter 2 should earn enough to top the box office in it’s opening weekend, but it’s almost impossible to live up to the predecessor’s numbers. We are looking for the sequel to play closer to Jordan Peele’s Us which debuted with 71.1M, or maybe last year’s reboot of Halloween which earned 76.2M in three days. On the lower side, we could be looking at The Nun (53.8M), but that would be a serious underperformance. Overall, our final predictions should be around 70M for the three-day on a production budget of 30-40M.

Will it be good? Maybe, maybe not. It’s predecessor, It, scored a solid 68% “sweet/sour” on the Lemonradar, we praised the performances, and the emotional overtones, but pinned it’s over reliance on ridiculous jump-scares. On RottenTomatoes, the bloody horror flick was handed an extremely positive 85% “Certified Fresh”, and on similar website Metacritic, critics gave it a more skeptical 69/100. The sequel’s trailer is very solid, and gives us anticipation that it still could be a good fright, but sequels can disappoint, and we have to take some precautions. The director, Andy Muschietti, had some success with his first feature film, Mama, starring Jessica Chastain—which scored 65% “Fresh” on RottenTomatoes, and was a financial hit, but he’s not experienced enough to confirm it. Screenwriter Gary Dauberman is returning from the original film, having all three Annabelle films (two of which were good) and two more Conjuring films, both The Nun (financial hit, critical flop) and The Curse of La Llorona (minor financial victory, critical bomb). While the remainder of his career is not the best, It’s screenplay wasn’t half bad. Our final prediction is too varied to have a range, but has an average of 70% “sweet/sour” on the Lemonradar.

“Cats”, “terminator: dark fate”, “walking dead” film etc.!!

On an additional note, the “Cats” musical adaptation official trailer was released. Yep, it’s got Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, and even James Corden—however, the trailer is too horrifyingly bad to post, but anyway, above is the horrific footage. Will it be a hit? Nope. Will it be good? Obviously not. And will be expensive? Heck ya.

After over 10 seasons of “The Walking Dead” TV show, along with a couple of spin-offs, this tease promises fans that we will get a “Walking Dead” feature film on the big screen. While it doesn’t reveal much, Rick Grimes, a famous character from the original show, will be returning. If they get the right screenwriter and director, yes, it can be good—and it may almost be confirmed for being a massive hit considering the show’s success.

“Terminator: Dark Fate” released a teaser trailer a few months ago, explosive with action sequences. This new featurette released at the Comic-Con reinforces the violence with promises of an R-rating, and relentless action. However, considering the last couple of installments flopped both critically and financially, it will be tough to say whether this sequel will pan out well.

After a teaser trailer was released earlier in the year, Chadwick Boseman starring action thriller “21 Bridges” finally gets a full look at this year’s Comic-Con. It’s explosive, violent, but sorta kinda bereft of a good plot. However, considering the talented cast, and the Russo brothers, it could be both a hit, and have good quality. It all depends.

It’s not just robots, Tom Cruise action films and some cats, nope, Kevin Smith has released the first trailer for the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot picture to be released later this year. It’s completely R-rated, hysterical, and has some killer cameos—there’s lot’s of drug use, crude jokes and Dumb and Dumber type fun in the red band footage. The original film garnered mixed reviews, but is supposedly a load of fun—and was a disappointment in the box office. This information brings us to question as to whether Kevin Smith and crew can make this R-rated comedy work financially or critically.

some MARVEL PHASE 4 movie NEWS: NATALIE PORTMAN TO WIELD, “BLADE” CASTINGS, “AVENGERS” TOPS “AVATAR”, and a load of sequels

After “Avengers: Endgame”, and the seemingly conclusion to the character of Thor, fans were heartbroken around the globe, but Comic-Con comes to save it again, announcing that there will be, in fact, another “Thor” film dubbed “Love and Thunder”. However, while Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson will be in it, Natalie Portman will be wielding the hammer as the title character. Yep, we have a female Thor. In the first two “Thor” films, Portman portrayed Thor’s love-interest, Jane Foster, but was never expected to be an action hero. Foster even appeared briefly in “Avengers: Endgame”, but still no major parts. It could work, it may not, but I’m still excited for this anticipated female-led Marvel film. How she became the female Thor so suddenly is still a mystery, but its possible that Hemsworth’s Thor retired, and passed it on to Jane to become the Phase 4 hero. The official release date is November 5th, 2021, and remember to show some MCU spirit!!

Will it be a hit? Pretty Confirmed. The original three films grossed 181M, 206.3M and 315M domestically respectively, with global totals ranging from 449.3M to 853.9M. Considering this, you notice that the earnings increased with each film, and it could be the same case with the fourth installment to the franchise. We are looking at a debut from 100-150M, which could mean a franchise best for Love and Thunder, but we are looking for the sequel to play closer to Wonder Woman (103.2M). A high would be around Captain Marvel, which debuted to 153.4M in three-days, and finished with 426.8M domestically—a low, maybe even an underperformance, would be a similar debut to the original Thor (65.7M), but that’s not likely to happen. Our final prediction is around 125M for the opening, maybe much lower, or much higher.

Will it be good? Most likely. Thor, the original installment, scored 70% “sweet/sour” on the Lemonradar, we praised the visual effects, and the funny performance by Chris Hemsworth, but thought it was a weaker MCU installment. The sequel, The Dark World, was handed 65% “sweet/sour” on Sweet and Sour Movies, again loving the action, but it continued the one Marvel produced franchise that didn’t quite work. However, what changed the beforehand weakest MCU series was the third installment, Ragnarok, and with a change of directors, it scored an excellent 85% “sweet” on the Lemonradar, 93% “Certified Fresh” on RT, and a positive 74/100 on Metacritic, a high ranking film in the interconnected saga. For Love and Thunder, the Ragnarok director Taika Watiti is returning and promises lot’s of laughs, and most likely, the fourth installment should have good quality, but there are slim chances that it could disappoint. Our final predictions are 60-80% on the Lemonradar.

TWO-TIME ACADEMY AWARD WINNER MAHERSHALA ALI TO REPLACE WESLEY SNIPES IN “BLADE” REBOOT

There were three film adaptations to the world known Marvel comics series dubbed Blade, all starring Wesley Snipes, and all having some limited success critically, but delivering decently financially. After the reception for the third picture, very little of the fan base were expecting a fourth installment, or even a reboot—however 2019’s Comic Con announced a Blade reboot in San Diego, helmed by the MCU and starring Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali will be released. It will be a gamble whether the comic book adaptation and reboot will be a hit or not, or even if it will be worth a watch, but Ali is more than capable for the role after performing in both Luke Cage, and the masterful Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The superhero picture’s director is still unknown, but fans at the Comic-Con were supposedly demanding a black filmmaker for the extremely anticipated film. Jordan Peele, the director for acclaimed R-rated horror films such as Get Out and Us turned down the offer for the role, and James Wan (Aquaman), who pitched the idea, has also been cancelled. The dangerous waters of development hell are hitting the reboot, and hopefully they”ll find a filmmaker suited for the title. The film is being released either 2022, or 2023.

Will it be a hit? Perhaps, but not likely. A Blade remake starring Mahershala Ali should interest fans enough for some good early buzz, but considering the limited victories for the original three films, it’s not likely to meet the regular MCU, “top the charts” quota, as it is an R-rated gore-fest. The original Blade film scored well in the box office, grossing just over 70M in North America, and 131.1M globally on a budget that reaches just 45M. With inflation that counts to 110M domestically, and 205.8M globally. The sequel, Blade II, improved on the original’s success with a solid 82.3M earned domestically, and 155M worldwide on a cost of 54M. With almost 20 years of inflation, that counts to 116.7M domestically, and 220.6M globally. The third, and final film, dubbed Trinity, was the single flop in the series, grossing just 52.4M in North American totals, and 128.9M globally on a budget nearing 70M. Even with 15 years of inflation, the totals count to 70.5M domestically along with 173.5M globally on an inflated budget of about 94M. Well, after the third installment, fans said their goodbyes to the vampire-slaying trilogy until now. Our final predictions for the reboot are a debut of around 20M, and a domestic total of 50M on a budget of 100-120M, however, there is lot’s of evidence saying that the numbers could jump much higher.

Will it be good? There’s a chance. With Ali playing the title character, there is a chance that the quality could at least beat the low standard set by the first three films, considering the actor is a two-time Oscar winner, however, that’s a slim gamble against the rising tides of franchise fatigue. The first Blade picture got mixed reception, scoring 54% “Rotten” on RottenTomatoes, and 45/100 on Metacritic, critics praised the fierce action sequences, but panned the lack of plot. Blade II didn’t wow much either, handed 57% “Rotten” on RottenTomatoes, and 52/100 on Metacritic, praising the doubled-down violence once again, but the lack of character development, and storytelling were noted. Trinity, the least-favored of the trilogy, scored just 25% “Rotten” on RottenTomatoes, and a still-negative 38/100 on Metacritic, reviews said it’s overly loud, too campy, and the violence is too incoherent to match up to it’s two predecessors. Considering the dim reception, we shouldn’t bee expecting much from a reboot, but with a compelling star, and hopefully a solid director, we are thinking the film could either be around 20% “D-sour”, or maybe a high of about 70% “sweet/sour”.

“DOCTOR STRANGE” SEQUEL TO BE MARVEL’S FIRST “HORROR” FILM

The sequel to the hit Doctor Strange, which debuted three years ago has finally been announced to be released on May 7th 2021, and it is to be dubbed, In the Multiverse of Madness. While the sequel might not be R-rated, it’s supposed to be the first Marvel produced “horror” film, still starring Benedict Cumberbatch and bringing Elizabeth Olsen into the cast. The film is to be helmed by Scott Derrickson, who directed the original superhero picture, along with a couple of mediocre horror films such as The Excorcism of Emily Rose, and the two Sinister films. It should do solid numbers in the box office, and perhaps, it shall be another good MCU produced romp, though the horror genre attempt could tip the production sideways.

Doctor Strange stats:

77% “sweet” on the Lemonradar

232.6M in North America

677.7M worldwide

165M production cost

“shang-chi” adaptation set for 2021

Another MCU comics adaptation, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is set to be released on the big screen in 2021. The film is based on a comics strip dubbed Shang-Chi, which tells the story of a master of kung-fu, and his battles against Fu Manchu, his arch-nemesis. Awkwafina is playing an unknown role, and Canadian actor Simu Liu will play Shang-Chi, while Tony Leung will be starring as the Mandarin (the new villain). The film looks like a cool fantasy Marvel mash-up, and should be another solid hit in the box office, but the film looks overbearingly familiar.

Shang-Chi predictions:

60% “sweet/sour” on the Lemonradar

150M in North America

500M worldwide

125M production cost

“CAPTAIN MARVEL 2”, “BLACK PANTHER 2”, AND “GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3” TO HIT THEATERS

Amidst all the adaptations, and reboots, Marvel is returning to produce three more sequels to some immensely popular predecessors. Captain Marvel 2, Black Panther 2, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 are all coming to the big screen hopefully by 2022. Guardians 3 was delayed because James Gunn was fired temporarily, before being re-hired to direct the third installment in the franchise. We have to question whether the three sequels will be taken place after the events of Endgame, or before? Panther 2 was also delayed, and was supposedly because of cast troubles, but Marvel is still on board and confirmed that both this and the other two are in the works. They are all extremely anticipated to do both incredible numbers in the box office, and be critical successes additionally considering their predecessors.

Black Panther stats:

90% “sweet” on the Lemonradar

700M in North America

1.346B worldwide

200M production cost

Captain Marvel stats:

76% “sweet” on the Lemonradar

426.8M in North America

1.128B worldwide

152-175M production cost

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 stats:

80% “sweet” on the Lemonradar

389.8M in North America

863.7M worldwide

200M production cost

“ETERNALS” SET FOR 2020, WITH A CONFIRMED CAST

Another comic-book adaptation dubbed Eternals is set to be released in 2020, and has a confirmed, and talented cast. Angelina Jolie was first cast as Avengers member Sersi, but at the Comic-Con, the actress was switched to star as Thena, who is lightly based off of Athena. Salma Hayek, and Lauren Ridloff will be playing female versions of Ajak and speedster Makkari. Kumail Nanjiani is also joining the cast as Kingo, a samurai Eternal. Train to Busan star Don Lee is set to star as The Forgotten One, a.k.a Gilgamesh. The exact release is November 6th.

Eternals predictions:

70% “sweet/sour” on the Lemonradar

140M in North America

400-500M worldwide

175M production budget

“BLACK WIDOW” SET FOR NEXT MAY WITH MORE CASTINGS

The MCU has yet again announced a superhero origin story, this one is a stand-alone feature dubbed Black Widow. The origin tells the untold story of assassin turned Avengers, Natasha Romanoff a.k.a Black Widow, this film will take place much before her sacrifice in the tragic Avengers: Endgame. The picture is to be helmed by Cate Shortland who has Somersault, Lore, and Berlin Syndrome, all which have raved critical reception. The film is set to be released May, 2020 as Scarlett Johansson will return as the title character, it will also star Stranger Things’ David Harbour as the Red Guardian, and Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, the second Black Widow. Finally, famed Marvel antagonist the Taskmaster will also appear, but the casting choice is still unknown.

Black Widow predictions:

85% “sweet” on the Lemonradar

180M in North America

600M worldwide

90M production budget

“AVENGERS: ENDGAME” FINALLY TOPS “AVATAR” FOR GLOBAL #1

After a long, 87 days in release, Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame has finally topped James Cameron’s Avatar for the biggest global release of all-time with over $2.790 billion dollars worldwide. Domestically, the film has earned over $850 million dollars in North America, making it the second biggest domestic release of all-time behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The massive success for the last installment of the Infinity saga, as well as Captain Marvel and Spider-Man: Far from Home mean good news for Marvel’s Phase 4.