Tag: Sony Pictures

  • Is ‘Spider-Man 4’ reportedly to go on floors this year?

    By Express News Service

    Reports claim that Spider-Man 4’s production will commence at the end of 2023. However, Sony Pictures which owns the movie rights to the character, have not announced it formally and hence Marvel can’t comment on the upcoming project either.

    After Sony’s critical and financial disappointment, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, in 2015, Sony announced a deal to collaborate with Marvel Cinematic Studios on future Spider-Man films and integrate the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). They later collaborated to produce Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), while Sony separately redeveloped Venom (2018) as a stand-alone film later established as the beginning of its fictional universe.

    In the first chapter of sony’s spider legacy, Toby Maguire played the character Peter Parker aka Spider-Man. In later versions, Andrew Garfield pulled off the role. Since their association with Marvel studios, Tom Holland has played the character. In the last instalment, Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), all three actors got together as Spidieys of different universes. No Way Home has made the biggest opening for reissue in nearly a decade and was marked as a critical success. 

    The social media buzz notes that Spider-Man 4 will start filming at the end of 2023. Moreover, the rumours are rife that Sony has a USD 200 million budget for the film.

    (This story originally appeared on Cinema Express)

    Reports claim that Spider-Man 4’s production will commence at the end of 2023. However, Sony Pictures which owns the movie rights to the character, have not announced it formally and hence Marvel can’t comment on the upcoming project either.

    After Sony’s critical and financial disappointment, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, in 2015, Sony announced a deal to collaborate with Marvel Cinematic Studios on future Spider-Man films and integrate the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). They later collaborated to produce Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), while Sony separately redeveloped Venom (2018) as a stand-alone film later established as the beginning of its fictional universe.

    In the first chapter of sony’s spider legacy, Toby Maguire played the character Peter Parker aka Spider-Man. In later versions, Andrew Garfield pulled off the role. Since their association with Marvel studios, Tom Holland has played the character. In the last instalment, Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), all three actors got together as Spidieys of different universes. No Way Home has made the biggest opening for reissue in nearly a decade and was marked as a critical success. 

    The social media buzz notes that Spider-Man 4 will start filming at the end of 2023. Moreover, the rumours are rife that Sony has a USD 200 million budget for the film.

    (This story originally appeared on Cinema Express)

  • Jonas Cuaron to helm Marvel’s El Muerto

    By Express News Service

    Jonas Cuaron, son of Academy Award-winner Alfonso Cuaron, is set to direct Sony Pictures’ upcoming Marvel film, El Muerto. 

    Rapper Bad Bunny will play the lead role in El Muerto, which is currently in the early stages of development. The project will be written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer.

    In the Marvel comics, El Muerto, known as Juan-Carlos Estrada Sanchez, is a wrestler whose powers are handed down by ancestry in the form of a mask. Incidentally, in the comics, El Muerto has faced off with Spider-Man in the ring.

    Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Mart Nez Ocasio, will be the first-ever Latino actor to headline a live-action Marvel film.

    El Muerto is expected to hit the screens on January 12, 2024.

    (This story originally appeared on Cinema Express)

    Jonas Cuaron, son of Academy Award-winner Alfonso Cuaron, is set to direct Sony Pictures’ upcoming Marvel film, El Muerto. 

    Rapper Bad Bunny will play the lead role in El Muerto, which is currently in the early stages of development. The project will be written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer.

    In the Marvel comics, El Muerto, known as Juan-Carlos Estrada Sanchez, is a wrestler whose powers are handed down by ancestry in the form of a mask. Incidentally, in the comics, El Muerto has faced off with Spider-Man in the ring.

    Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Mart Nez Ocasio, will be the first-ever Latino actor to headline a live-action Marvel film.

    El Muerto is expected to hit the screens on January 12, 2024.

    (This story originally appeared on Cinema Express)

  • Sony to develop a new ‘Tarzan’ film

    By Express News Service

    Sony Pictures is reportedly developing a new Tarzan film. According to executives from the production company, they are planning to adapt the century-old character to modern times. The production studio has bought the rights for the character from creator Edgar Rice Burroughs’s estate.

    The first film adaptation of the character was released in 1918 and has expanded into several franchises and adaptations over the years. The character recently appeared in the 2016 film The Legend of Tarzan, directed by David Yates and starring Alexander Skarsgard and Margot Robbie in the lead.

    The Tarzan story follows an orphaned boy who gets raised by a family of apes in an African jungle. Upon encountering a band of explorers from the outside world, he meets a girl from England named Jane and falls in love with her.

    Certain iterations of the story follow his return back to civilization. Officials at Sony Pictures have declined to comment about their plans for the proposed franchise, writers, director, and the cast and crew are expected to be announced soon.

    Sony Pictures is reportedly developing a new Tarzan film. According to executives from the production company, they are planning to adapt the century-old character to modern times. The production studio has bought the rights for the character from creator Edgar Rice Burroughs’s estate.

    The first film adaptation of the character was released in 1918 and has expanded into several franchises and adaptations over the years. The character recently appeared in the 2016 film The Legend of Tarzan, directed by David Yates and starring Alexander Skarsgard and Margot Robbie in the lead.

    The Tarzan story follows an orphaned boy who gets raised by a family of apes in an African jungle. Upon encountering a band of explorers from the outside world, he meets a girl from England named Jane and falls in love with her.

    Certain iterations of the story follow his return back to civilization. Officials at Sony Pictures have declined to comment about their plans for the proposed franchise, writers, director, and the cast and crew are expected to be announced soon.

  • Following Cobra Kai’s success, new ‘Karate Kid’ movie is in works

    By ANI

    WASHINGTON: Good news! the ‘Karate Kid’ franchise is expanding.

    Sony Pictures has announced the return of the original ‘Karate Kid’ franchise” to the big screen by dating a new “Karate Kid” movie for June 7, 2024, Variety reported.

    Launched in 1984, the series spawned three sequels, as well as a 2010 reboot starring Jaden Smith. The franchise garnered a lot of attention in recent times with ‘Cobra Kai’, the TV series which is currently streaming on Netflix and featuring original stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka alongside younger actors.

    A still from the Cobra Kai Season 5 trailer (Photo | YouTube)

    More details related to the upcoming Karate Kid version are awaited.

    Meanwhile, the studio also set a date for an untitled True Haunting film, said to be inspired by true events and directed by Gary Fleder. The Screen Gems horror film, about a couple moving into a haunted home, arrives on January 6, 2023, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

    Sony has also shifted release dates for several upcoming tentpoles. ‘Madame Web,’ a comic book movie set in the Spider-Man universe that stars Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney, is moving from Oct. 6, 2023, to Feb. 16, 2024.

    WASHINGTON: Good news! the ‘Karate Kid’ franchise is expanding.

    Sony Pictures has announced the return of the original ‘Karate Kid’ franchise” to the big screen by dating a new “Karate Kid” movie for June 7, 2024, Variety reported.

    Launched in 1984, the series spawned three sequels, as well as a 2010 reboot starring Jaden Smith. The franchise garnered a lot of attention in recent times with ‘Cobra Kai’, the TV series which is currently streaming on Netflix and featuring original stars Ralph Macchio and William Zabka alongside younger actors.

    A still from the Cobra Kai Season 5 trailer (Photo | YouTube)

    More details related to the upcoming Karate Kid version are awaited.

    Meanwhile, the studio also set a date for an untitled True Haunting film, said to be inspired by true events and directed by Gary Fleder. The Screen Gems horror film, about a couple moving into a haunted home, arrives on January 6, 2023, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

    Sony has also shifted release dates for several upcoming tentpoles. ‘Madame Web,’ a comic book movie set in the Spider-Man universe that stars Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney, is moving from Oct. 6, 2023, to Feb. 16, 2024.

  • ‘Bullet Train’ repeats No. 1; ‘Top Gun’ flies back up ranks

    By Associated Press

    NEW YORK: The Brad Pitt action film “Bullet Train” led all movies in ticket sales for a second straight weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, while a quiet spell in theaters and incredible staying power allowed “Top Gun: Maverick” to rocket back into third place in its 12th week of release.

    After launching the previous weekend with about $30 million at the box office, “Bullet Train” pulled in $13.4 million in its second go-around. David Leitch’s assassin-crowded film, made for $90 million, has grossed $54.4 million in two weeks for Sony Pictures. Globally, “Bullet Train” has grossed $114.5 million.

    Three new films went into wide release but none cracked the top five films. The slowdown — an expected but still acute late-summer downturn in big releases — gave plenty of airspace for the year’s biggest movie, “Maverick,” to make another fly-by in theaters.

    Nearly three months after opening in May, Paramount Pictures put the “Top Gun” sequel back on a number of large-format screens and increased its theater count from 2,760 to 3,181. It came away with $7.2 million, bringing its cumulative total to $673.8 million. Paramount’s biggest smash ever, “Maverick” sits at seventh all-time in domestic box office, not accounting for inflation, right above “Titanic” and just below “Avengers: Infinity War.”

    The uncommonly long run for “Top Gun: Maverick” is even rarer at a time when studios have shrunk theatrical windows, typically sending movies to streaming services after about 45 days in theaters.

    “Top Gun: Maverick” was very narrowly edged for second place by Warner Bros.′ “DC League of Super-Pets.” Warner Bros. estimated Sunday that its animated movie took in $7.17 million in its third week of release, just a nose above the $7.15 million for “Maverick.” Final figures Monday should break the near-tie.

    But while “Top Gun: Maverick” has been a boon to theaters recovering from the pandemic, the thinly scheduled dog days of August — and potentially a chunk of September — will pose a test to the industry. This weekend, the biggest new film in nationwide theaters was A24′s “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” a Gen Z horror comedy that expanded to 1,269 locations after last week’s opening in limited release. It came in eighth with $3.3 million.

    Lionsgate’s “The Fall,” about two friends stranded atop a 2,000-foot radio tower, debuted with $2.5 million. Diane Keaton’s body-swap comedy “Mack & Rita” opened with just $1 million in ticket sales for Gravitas Ventures.

    In overall sales it was the lowest ticket-selling weekend of the summer. With few new wide releases on tap — including two Idris Elba titles: the safari thriller “Beast” (Aug. 19) and George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” (Aug. 26) — moviegoing is likely to slow further in the coming weeks.

    Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

    1. “Bullet Train,” $13.4 million.

    2. “DC League of Super-Pets,” $7.2 million

    3. “Top Gun: Maverick,” $7.2 million.

    4. “Thor: Love and Thunder,” $5.3 million.

    5. “Nope,” $5.3 million.

    6. “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” $4.9 million.

    7. “Where the Crawdads Sing,” $4 million.

    8. “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” $3.3 million.

    9. “Elvis,” $2.6 million.

    10. “Fall,” $2.5 million.

    NEW YORK: The Brad Pitt action film “Bullet Train” led all movies in ticket sales for a second straight weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, while a quiet spell in theaters and incredible staying power allowed “Top Gun: Maverick” to rocket back into third place in its 12th week of release.

    After launching the previous weekend with about $30 million at the box office, “Bullet Train” pulled in $13.4 million in its second go-around. David Leitch’s assassin-crowded film, made for $90 million, has grossed $54.4 million in two weeks for Sony Pictures. Globally, “Bullet Train” has grossed $114.5 million.

    Three new films went into wide release but none cracked the top five films. The slowdown — an expected but still acute late-summer downturn in big releases — gave plenty of airspace for the year’s biggest movie, “Maverick,” to make another fly-by in theaters.

    Nearly three months after opening in May, Paramount Pictures put the “Top Gun” sequel back on a number of large-format screens and increased its theater count from 2,760 to 3,181. It came away with $7.2 million, bringing its cumulative total to $673.8 million. Paramount’s biggest smash ever, “Maverick” sits at seventh all-time in domestic box office, not accounting for inflation, right above “Titanic” and just below “Avengers: Infinity War.”

    The uncommonly long run for “Top Gun: Maverick” is even rarer at a time when studios have shrunk theatrical windows, typically sending movies to streaming services after about 45 days in theaters.

    “Top Gun: Maverick” was very narrowly edged for second place by Warner Bros.′ “DC League of Super-Pets.” Warner Bros. estimated Sunday that its animated movie took in $7.17 million in its third week of release, just a nose above the $7.15 million for “Maverick.” Final figures Monday should break the near-tie.

    But while “Top Gun: Maverick” has been a boon to theaters recovering from the pandemic, the thinly scheduled dog days of August — and potentially a chunk of September — will pose a test to the industry. This weekend, the biggest new film in nationwide theaters was A24′s “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” a Gen Z horror comedy that expanded to 1,269 locations after last week’s opening in limited release. It came in eighth with $3.3 million.

    Lionsgate’s “The Fall,” about two friends stranded atop a 2,000-foot radio tower, debuted with $2.5 million. Diane Keaton’s body-swap comedy “Mack & Rita” opened with just $1 million in ticket sales for Gravitas Ventures.

    In overall sales it was the lowest ticket-selling weekend of the summer. With few new wide releases on tap — including two Idris Elba titles: the safari thriller “Beast” (Aug. 19) and George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” (Aug. 26) — moviegoing is likely to slow further in the coming weeks.

    Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

    1. “Bullet Train,” $13.4 million.

    2. “DC League of Super-Pets,” $7.2 million

    3. “Top Gun: Maverick,” $7.2 million.

    4. “Thor: Love and Thunder,” $5.3 million.

    5. “Nope,” $5.3 million.

    6. “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” $4.9 million.

    7. “Where the Crawdads Sing,” $4 million.

    8. “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” $3.3 million.

    9. “Elvis,” $2.6 million.

    10. “Fall,” $2.5 million.

  • Animated ‘Ghostbusters’ movie in the works 

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: “Ghostbusters” franchise is expanding its universe with the announcement of an animated film that is currently in development.

    The sequel to “C” is also returning to the original film’s home in New York City, reported C.

    Sony Pictures and Ghost Corps’ Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan made several announcements as part of Ghostbusters Day, the annual celebration of the first “Ghostbusters” film’s release on June 8, 1984.

    The new animated film is based on “Ghosbusters” IP and is being developed by Reitman and Kenan along with Sony Pictures Animation. Chris Prynoski and Jennifer Kluska are set to direct, with Brenda Hsueh set to write.

    During their presentation on Ghostbusters Day, Reitman and Kenan also confirmed that the sequel to their 2021 film “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” will return to the story’s original home in New York City.

  • Sony confirms Venom 3

    By Express News Service

    Sony Pictures has officially confirmed Venom 3. They made the announcement during their CinemaCon panel.

    But there is no word on the crew and release date of the film. The announcement isn’t a surprise as the previous two films of the series: Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, were successes at the box office. Both the films saw Tom Hardy playing Eddie Brock, the journalist who comes in contact with an alien symbiote. 

  • Brad Pitt’s ‘Bullet Train’ gets a new release date

    By ANI

    WASHINGTON: Brad Pitt’s ‘Bullet Train’ is arriving at the station a little later than scheduled. Sony Pictures announced that the action thriller is moving from July 15 to July 29, taking the recently-vacated date of Dwayne Johnson’s DC movie ‘Black Adam’.

    As per Deadline, the July 15 release date is now being taken by ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’, a drama-mystery from Sony’s 3000 Pictures.

    The move gives ‘Bullet Train’ a little breathing room behind Disney’s MCU threequel ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’, which will hit theatres on July 8.

    In its new July 29 slot, ‘Bullet Train’ will battle two other wide openers: Focus Features’ horror-thriller ‘Vengeance’ and Paramount’s animated action-comedy ‘Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank’, which are both releasing on July 22.

    Pitt stars in ‘Bullet Train’ as an experienced assassin whose first day back at work isn’t as easy as planned as he finds himself among several other professional killers with a similar mission on said train.

    Sandra Bullock, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Hiroyuki Sanada, Zazie Michael Shannon, Andrew Koji and Benito A Martinez Ocasio (aka Bad Bunny) are also a part of the star cast.

    The upcoming movie has been helmed by ‘Deadpool 2’ director David Leitch. With a screenplay by Zak Olkewicz, the film is based on ‘Maria Beetle’ by Kotaro Isaka. 

  • ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ set for digital debut; Tom, Andrew, Tobey recreate iconic meme

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: After enjoying an extended theatrical run, ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ will make its digital debut on March 22 and on 4K UHD and Blu-ray on April 12.To mark the occasion, Sony Pictures shared a picture of Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield recreating the iconic Spider-Man pointing meme, reports ‘Variety’.The film, which is now available for pre-order on digital, 4K UHD and Blu-ray, has minted $772 million and counting at the U.S. box office since its opening in theatres on December 17.As per ‘Variety’, the gross collections are beyond James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ as the third highest-grossing domestic (USA) release in history. The top two spots are grabbed by ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’. With a global box office gross at $1.8 billion, ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ has become the highest-grossing Sony release in history.

    ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ features three generations of Spider-Man actors on-screen by bringing together Holland, Maguire and Garfield. Holland and Garfield have already expressed their interest on record for starring together in another ‘Spider-Man’ movie.

  • Jared Leto-starrer Mobius’ release postponed 

    By Express News Service

    The release of Jared Leto-starrer Mobius will be postponed by three months announced Sony Pictures on Monday. The makers of the Spider-Man spin-off series which belongs in Sony’s Spider-Man cinematic universe (not to be confused with Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe) will now release on April 1 instead of the originally planned  January 28.

    The film was originally expected to premiere on July 10, 2020, however, due to the onset of the pandemic, it was postponed to January 28, 2022. Multiple release dates were considered for the film including July 31, 2020, then March 19, 2021, then October 8, 2021.

    Jared Leto will play the role of antihero Michael Morbius in the film. He attempts a desperate gamble in order to treat a rare blood disorder, one that makes him more familiar with the darkness inside of him.

    The new release date will see Morbius face-off Jimmy O. Yang and Tiffany Haddish’s Easter Sunday and Chris Pine thriller The Contractor.